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Ethico- Religious Concepts in theQur'an

www.akademya.biz

Ethico-Religious Concepts
in the Qur'an

Toshihiko Izutsu

Ihis page intentionally left blank

McGill-Queen's University Press
Montreal & Kingston - London ■ Ithaca

McGtlJ'Qoeeit'j- University PnMS ifin-i
liBK 0.7735-2.426-6 (cloth)

ISBN 0-77JJ-SJI31-1 ljMpeT>

Legal deposit child quartet -2003
BLblicuheqiK nwLcrwk du Quebec

CONTENTS

Ftimed in Canada on acid-tree piper

This boot was. first published h cooperation with Ihe
MtOil] Univemty Institute of Islamic Studies iis nu. I
in the MoGLU Islamic Studies Series..

McGill-Qucfiti's University Preii aclcnowlcdECEi ttie
support of (he (.'ui-silu Council fiw Hie Arts furyur
publishing progr am. We also acknowledge du: financial
support of the Government of Canada inn* gh the Boot
HitblishirSf Industry (JcuclopmerN Program (npin^rordur
pttbtijhin (i activities.

National I ihrjry nl CuiKirfu Olalripilnu
in Publication Data

(7U1BU, Twhihitn, igi4-

Utbieo-idiEioui cumcepts in the Qur'in

First published io 1959 under title: The structure of the

cthiL'il terms in the Kurti.

Includes biHiogiaphicaJ references and index.

BBH 0-77J5-*4j6't> (BOWid). ■ ISBN 0-7733'14-27-4 (pNn.)

1. Koran -Ethics. I. Title,

ftF-iJ+ESlCjiiXii 297.3 CittW-CjoOJig-l

Foreword Charles J. Adams
Preface

PRINCIPLES Oh' SEMANTIC ANALYSIS
Introduction: Language and Culture
I The Scope and Focus of ihe Study
II The Method of Analysis and Its Application

FROM TRIBAL CODE TO ISLAMIC ETHICS

III The Pessimistic Conception of the Earthly Life

IV The Spirit of Tribal Solidarity

V The Isldrruzation of Old Arab Virtues

Generosity 75
Courage $3

Loyalty 86
Veracity 97

Patience iqi

vii
d

VI The Basic Mom] Dichotomy 105 Index of Quranic Citations 255

The Companion;* of Paradise 108 Index of Arabic Words 265

The Companions of Hell m hide* of Subject* 270

THE ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CONCEPTS

VII The Inner Structure of the Concept of Kufr 1 19

The Element of Ingratitude in Kufr 110
Kufr as Opposed to Iman 1 24
The Heart of a Kafir 137
Kufr and Shirk 130

Kufr in the Sense of "Going Astray' 133
Hawd as the Immediate Cause of Dalai 139
The Attitude of Haughtiness 141
Mocki ng at Revelation 1 52
Contentiousness 154

Vlll The Semantic Field of Kufr 156

Fmiq 1 56
Fdjir 162

IX Re I j 2 10 us Hypocrisy 178

X The Believer i&4

The Ideal Believer 1 84
Iman, Belief, as Opposed to Kufr 1 87

Islam and Muslim [89
Divine Guidance 103,
The Fear of God J95
Thankfulness 200

XI Good and Bad 203

$$tilt 204

Bf>r 207
Fasad 211

Ma'ruf and Mitnkar 213
Ktmyr and .Sifiar r 117
frHVaiidSiV' 221
Faft.^ia ' or Fahhhak ajj
royy'fr and Khabtih 235
Haram and JVofflf 237
Sins 241

Conclusion 250

vii

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FOREWORD

The republication of this book is a cause for much pleasure . It has
been out of print and out of circulation far loo long. At the time of its
original publication in 19(16 it was one cf the finest, if not, indeed, the very
best study of the Quranic world view ever to have appeared in a Western
language, and it has losi none of its significance with the passing of lime.
The. Qur'an is the Scripture of the Muslim community, which now numbers
one-fifth 10 one-quarter of the world's population. It is a keystone of the
great Islamic enterprise of the past and a continuing source of guidance for
the Muslim community in our time. As such, it has been among the most
influential writings of all human history. It has, however, been little under-
Stood outside Muslim circles and still less appreciated. For many years
there was a paucity of serious Qur'ink studies in Western tongues. Mate-
rial setting forth the Qur'anie message objectively, in detail, and clearly
was simply not to be had. The situation reflected a broad disinterest in
Islamic matters among Western scholars, and even more among the Western
public, Izutsu's work went far toward remedying this lack, though at the
time of its publication it did not receive the attention that it merited.
His masterful and lucid analysis offers an exposition of the Qur'an's teach-
ings that was unequalled at the time and is still among the best we have
available.

In the interval between the first appearance of this hook and the present,
much has happened to evoke a greater interest in all matters Islamic, in-
cluding the teachings of the Qur'ln. Both developments in communication

Ftiremitrd

and technology that have drawn the world closer together as well as spe-
cific events have contributed to a burgeoning desire among the Western
public for knowledge of Islam and the Muslim peoples, Happenings in far-
away regions of the Muslim world have affected the lives of people else-
where directly ami powerfully. Places that many people could not have
found on a map a decade ago are now household words thai appear in the
headlines of our daily newspapers. The Iranian Revolution of 1079, which
brought to power a government claiming an Islamic base and putting con-
trol in the hands of the clerical class, not only resulted in important interna-
tional realignments in the Middle East but had repercussions in other places
as well, including Canada. One result has been an expanding interest and
curiosity about Islam. An unintentional but important by-product has been
a veritable explosion of literature about Iran, Islam generally, and, in par-
ticular, the Shi'i branch of Islam. Where before there was little information
to be had on many aspects of these subjects, now there is such an abun-
dance - growing wiih every passing day - that it is all but impossible 10
come to terms with it.

The Gulf War but especially the terrorist attacks on the United States,
culminating in those of 1 9 September 2001 , have reinforced (tie awareness
of Islam and the desire 10 understand (he principles and convictions thai it
represents. These events have also, in their turn, stimulated the growing
flood of literature relative to Islam. Although Professor Izutsu's studies did
not have contemporary political or military events in mind and do not di-
rectly address the problems thai arise from them, (hey are nevertheless
timely and of immediate relevance tq our present situation. They offer a
brilliantly conceived* carefully crafted, and insightful analysis of the
Islamic world view to which statesmen and diplomats, as well as scholars
and the general public, should pay serious attention,

There are two aspects of this important book that are, perhaps, of more
interest to scholars and specialists in Islamic Studies than to others. One is
the masterful way in which the author contrasts the Qur'inic world view
Willi the outlook of pre-lslamic Arabia- Using the poetry of the pre-[$lamic
Arabs as. well as statements in the Quran itself, Izutsu has analysed the
attitudes and values characteristic of the people among whom the Prophet
Muhammad appeared and to whom he preached his message. He has
shown both how the Qui'anic world view diverges sharply from thai of pre-
[slarnic Arahia and, at the same lime, how it incorporates elements of the
old pagan Arab perspective, modifying them to fit wiih in its own scheme of
things. The study thus shows the rise of Islam to have involved both conti-
nuity and change in Arab life. This approach has two important conse-
quences. One is to bring great clarity to Ihe Qur'injic message. The other is
to locate the Qur'an firmly in the cultural and historical context in which it
appealed. ' n consequence the Muslim Scripture, which is otherwise often

Foreword

difficult, becomes much more readily understandable and its impact easier
to grasp.

The other aspect of Izutsu 's study that deserves particular notice is the
innovative method he employed to describe the concepts in which he was
interested. He proceeds by a process of semantic analysis that determines
the semantic field of each of the ethsco-religious terms studied. Every term
in the text is surrounded by other words that constitute its field or its struc-
ture. The meaning of a term h he argues, is to be understood through its rela-
tion with the words that surround and accompany it. In effect, the method
allows the Qur'an to interpret itself. His method and the way in which it is
to be employed are presented at length in the first section of the work . It is
important not only for the light it throws on the Qur'an but is applicable
and useful for the exposition of other texts as well.

The Muslim community looks upon the Qur'an as Ihe literal word of God
delivered to the Prophet by an angel. Along with the example of the
Prophet, the Qur'an provides the guidance necessary for human beings to
lead lives pleasing to God in this world and to gain the reward of Paradise
hereafter. Nothing is of more importance for understanding Islam than an
understanding of its Scripture. Izutsu's work is a fundamental resource for
study of the Qur'an, one that was pioneering in its time and whose merit
and significance have not diminished.

Charles J. Adams

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PREFACE

This book is a revised edition of my earlier work publisher hv
1959 by Kcio University in Tokyo, under the title, The Structure of
the Ethical Terms in ike Koran. Judged, by the yardstick of my current
thinking, the boot stood much in need of improvement as a whole
and of drastic revision in not a few places, In undertaking the re-
vision, I have tried to make it a more satisfactory expression of my
present views. Thus important additions have been made, many
points which I now consider unnecessary have been dropped, and a
number of passages have been completely rewritten, 3d much has it
been altered that the book may very well be regarded as a new one,
although the material used remains largely the same.

The title itself has been changed, lest the reader be misled into
thinking that the book deals with all the ethical terms that appear
in the Qur'an, Such is not the case. The Qui'amc terms of ethical
and moral implication may be roughly divided into two major
groups. One consists of those terms that concern the ethical life of
the Muslims in the Islamic community (ummttk), the other of those
that, are of an ethico-rdigious nature. The concepts in the second
category go deep into the essential nature of man as homo retigiasus.
They reflect the spiritual characteristics which, according to the
Qur'anic understanding of human nature, man as a religious being
should disclose. And, in an essentially 'ethical' religion like Islam,
these human characteristics must necessarily be religious and ethical
at the same time, there being no real distinction between the two in
this particular contest,

nil

-Preface

The book deals systematically only with this second group of
ethical term*. Those of the first class stand outside its interest, apart
from a few exceptional cases.

It remains to say a word about the theoretical part of this book. In
the original edition, considerable space was given to abstract specu-
lations regarding current theories of ethical language; methodo-
logical observations were scattered throughout the book. In the new
edition, an abstract theory of ethical language has been replaced by a
more fundamental theory of the linguistic or semantic world-view
which underlies the entire analytic work, and the methodological
principles which regulate the analysis have been gathered together
in an introduction.

The present study consists of three parts : an exposition of the
methodological principles of semantic analysis; the relation, positive
and negative., that exists between the pre- Islamic tribal moral code
and the Islamic — in our particular case, Qur'anic — ethics; and an
analysis, by a consistent application of the methodological rules
explained in the first section, -of the major ethico-rcrigious concepts
in the Qur'an,

The system of transliteration employed is that of the Library of
Congress, with these exceptions : aiif fnnqfUrok is rendered here by
d\ tamzin is transliterated Only in adverbial expressions. Qur'anic
verses are cited in terms of both the Fliigel and Modern Egyptian
systems, Where these differ, the Flugel numeration is set down first,
followed by an oblique mark and the Egyptian verse number. Except
in a very few cases, I have always tried to give my own interpre-
tation of the Arabic in quoting from the Qur'an and other literary
works, though in the case of the Qur'ari I am, needless to say, heavily
indebted to some of the earlier renderings by such scholars a* Rod-
well, Sale, Fickthall, and Arberry,

This revision was undertaken at the suggestion of Dr. Charles
J. Adams, Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill
U niversity. He has shown a lively interest in the work from beginning
to end; and without his constant assistance, sympathy, and en-
couragement the book would not have assumed its present shape. I
take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for all hts help.

The names of two other persons must be mentioned in this con-
nection with an equally deep sense of gratitude. One is Mr. William
J, Watson, then chief librarian of the Institute, who was kind enough
in read the manuscript when it was completed and who mnde helpful
suggestions regarding even the minutest details of expression. The
other is Miss Margery Simpson of the McGill University Press, who
edited the text. I have changed not a few passages following her
reasonable and very constructive advice. I am most grateful to Mr,

Prtfece

David Ede for his help in proof-reading and in preparing the index.
Finally, it is my most pleasant duty to thank Professor Nobuhiro
Matsumoto, Director of the institute of Cultural and Linguistic
Studies at Keio University, for generously giving me permission to
have this work published in this revised form. The original edition
was written and published under bis sponsorship in Japan,

TOSHIHIKO IHJTSU

PRINCIPLES OF SEMANTIC ANALYSIS

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introduction Language
and Culture

We may apphqach the subject of ethico-heligious concepts in
the Qur'ati in a number of different ways- We may start from the
elaborate systems of Islamic law which, in later ages, came to
regulate all phases of human conduct to the minutest details, and find
that we arc led back to the Qur^an as the original source of all these
commands and prohibitions* Or we may start from the no less
elaborate systems of theology, which we will discover to be nothing
but a theoretic treatment of the basic problem of what a 'true heltever'
should believe in f what kind of attitude he should take towards God,
and how he should act according to the dictates of his belief. Or
again, we may Set to work picking up more or less systematically
various teachings and opinions on morals contained in the Qui^an,
put them in order, and write a book called 'The Ethics of the Qur^n \
My concern i o this book is of an entirely different nature from these
and similar undertakings. The difference lies mainly in the analytic
method I am going to apply to the Qnr'anic data, which is to make the
Qui^an interpret its own concepts and speak for itself. In other words,
what is central to my inquiry is not so much the material as the
method of linguistic analysis applied to that material, the specific:
point of view from which it attempts to analyze the semantic structure

Principles of Semantic Analysis

of the value words of the Qur'Sn in the field of conduct and

character.

I should like to begin by laying special emphasis on what may
appear at first glance almost a truism, the importance of not plating
any reliance at all on the indirect evidence furnished by translated
texts. Translated words and sentences are partial equivalents at the
very most. They may serve as rough-and-ready guides to our fumb-
ling first steps, but in many cases they are quite inadequate and even
misleading. And in any case they can never afford a reliable basis, for
discussion of the structure of the ethical world-view of a people.
Tins, as I have just said, may seem too commonplace a point to he
emphasized specifically. The real importance of this principle, and
the grave danger in not paying constant attention to it, will he brought
home,, however, if we are but reminded that even when we are
actually reading a text in the original we tend almost unconsciously
to read into it our own concepts fostered by our mother tongue, and
thus to transmute many, if not all, of its key terms into equivalent
terms obtainable in our native language. 1 But if we do this, we are, in
reality, doing nothing more than understanding the original text in a
translation ; we are, in other words, manipulating translated concepts
without being aware of it, Baneful effects of this kind of unconscious
'transmutation' are making themselves felt in contemporary ethical
literature, particularly in the sphere relating to comparative studies
of different systems of moral ideas. And this tendency has been
greatly fostered by the amazing development of cultural anthropology
in recent times.

The growth of cultural anthropology is too remarkable to be ignored
by anyone seriously interested in problems of culture and human
facta, So most contemporary writers on ethics are forced willy-
nilly to pay some attention at least to the existence of moral codes far
different from those found in their own cultural sphere. Thus some-
thing assuming a superficial resemblance to comparative ethics is
now in vogue. Not infrequently we meet with auch 'comparative 1
consideration even in the works of those who would hold that there
is no real pluralism in ethical matters, that the essence of man's
morality is one and the same in the world, irrespective of time and
place.

In the great majority of such cases, however, sweeping conclusions,
are drawn from 'comparative 1 consideration of ethical terms based
on the unconscious manipulation of 'transmuted concepts 1 . Pro-
fessor Morris Cohen in his Preface to Logic 2 points out the danger

1 "ITm p/iint will be made clear thmredcalEy m rh* n*itt chapter.
* Morris E. Cohen, A Preface In Lfyk (London, j^joK p. 16.

Language and Culture

of relying on the too easy equivalence of the Greek word artU with
'virtue' in discussing Aristotle's view of the 'virtuous' man. He
remarks that the English word 'virtue 1 , which is used almost ex-
clusively as the equivalent of arete, is very misleading; areti would
be more accurately rendered as 'excellence', the object of admiration.
Whether or not his view is right is a question I must leave to one side
for the moment. Let us, for convenience of exposition, take it as
proved by closer examination of all relevant passages in which the
word areie occurs. Suppose now that someone, setting out to write a
paper on the conception of virtue among the ancient Greeks, gathers
his data from English translations of Plato and Aristotle in which
arete is invariably rendered as *virtue' ; or, as often happens, that he
makes such a conceptual transmutation every time he comes across
the word arete in the original text The danger of his attempt is
patenL Talcing the wrong equivalence, arete ~ virtue, and without
stopping a moment to question the validity of this formula, he might
be led into futile discussions about the nature of the Greek 'virtue'
or about the divergences of opinion between the English and Greek
peoples on the essence of ' virtue \ The semantic content of the
English word 'virtue' would in this way be read gratuitously and
unconsciously into a Greek word which has, in fact, nothing in
common with it except perhaps some vague connotations of personal
excellence and admirablencss.

Unfortunately mistakes of this kind are encountered very fre-
quently in contemporary writings on ethics. This will become
obvious when, for example, we examine carefully the writings of
some Western scholars who have availed themselves of English
translations unly in forming their views on the i dusts (if rigtatuoEisncss
and justice in Japanese Shintoism or Chinese Confucianism. There
are in Japanese and Chinese a number of words which correspond to
a varying degree with 'righteousness' and 'justice'; but whether we
are justified in founding a comparative ethics on such vague equi-
valences is extremely doubtful. The same is true of the Arabic word
fdlilh whose semantic structure will he subjected to rigorous analysis
in a later passage. This word is generally translated in English as
'righteous', and I shall show how little it has in common with the
English adjective in its semantic constituents.

Far be it from me to assert that all attempts of the kind just de-
scribed are entirely useless and meaningless. That would be another
piece of sweeping assertion. All I want to emphasise is the grave
danger of being led unconsciously into erroneous theories about the
nature of morality by manipulating translated concepts and not
trying to analyze scientifically and rigorously the original concepts
themselves. I am not an extreme historical relativist. 'The more we

Principles of Semantic Analysis

study moral codes,' writes Newell- Smith, 'the more we find that they
do not differ on major paints of principles and that the divergencies
that exist are due to different opinions about empirical facts. . . .
Thus all codes agree that wc have a duty to requite good with good;
but obedience to this rule will involve behaving in ways that will
differ according to the view that a society takes of what it is to dp good
to someone.' 3 He stems to be quite fight here, and perhaps no
objection can be raised against him as long as he speaks of moral
codes in terms of such abstract principles, away from all divergencies
of opinion coming from concrete facts. Perhaps at this high level of
abstraction human nature is the same the world over, and I do not
deny the possibility of establishing in this way a number of very
general rules of morality which will be common to all human beings
qua human beings.

The more fundamental issues of morals arise, in my view, rather
in the much lower realm of empirical facts and practical experience.
It is here, in the midst of the concrete reality of human life in society,
that the semantic content of every ethical term is formed. If the view
of what it is to do good 1 varies from society to society, then the
semantic structure of the word 'good' itself must of necessity he
different in each case. But even this already presume? the existence
in every language of a word that will correspond more or less ade-
quately both in meaning and use to the English word 'good*,
admittedly one of the vaguest and fuzziest in the language. Id any
event, it is safer not to make such unwarranted assumptions if we are
to avoid projecting the structural characteristics of our own language
upon the semantic contents of the vocabularies of other peoples.

These considerations have, I think, explained a good deal ahout
the position I am going to take concerning the semantic aspects of
language, Tt will be my basic attitude throughout this work to
maintain a strict objectivity in dealing with observed facts, and to
decline to take sides between the conflicting theories on this subject.
But on the topic of the interconnection between language and culture
I am going to take up a very definite position. And this will un-
avoidably give a marked personal coloring to my outlook on the
problem of ethical terms. I shall strongly incline to a pluralistic
theory which holds that people's views of what is good and bad, or
right and wrong, differ from place to place and from time to time, and
differ fundamentally, not as trivial details to be explained away as
degrees in the scale of a unitary cultural development, but as more
basic cultural divergencies having their roots deep down in the
language habits of each individual community .

*P. H. NawdUSfflirti, Fjkttt (London; Fdiesft Book*, 1054}, Chapter I,
Section 2,

Language and Culture

The theory of meaning which underlies the whole structure of the
present work is not in any way my original contribution. It is based
on a particular type of semantics which has been developed and
elaborated in West Germany by Professor Leo Weisgerber and
which he calls 'sprachliche Weltanschauungslehre 1 . 4 His theory
coincides very largely in its major arguments with what is generally
known today as 'ethnolinguisties', a theory of interrelations between
linguistic patterns and cultural patterns which was originated by
Edward Sapir in Ms. later years in the United States. Each of these
two schools has its peculiar characteristics, but since it is impossible
to discuss them in minute detail 1 will, in what follows, unite the
two, giving only those main points of their argument which are of
immediate concern to us.

Instead of describing the theory in abstract form, we shall begin
by considering some concrete examples. Take, for instance, the
English word 'weed'. One dictionary defines this word as 'wild
herb springing where it is not wanted', in short, an undesirable,
unwanted herb. Now in the world of objective reality, that is, in the
realm of nature, there is no such thing as an 'undesirable' herb;
such a thing can exist only in the sight of man, who looks at the in-
finite complexity of natural objects, puts them in order, and evalu-
ates them in accordance with his various purposes. The concept of
'weed' is the result of such a process of ordering, sorting out, evalu-
ating, and categorizing. It embodies, in this sense, a particular point
of view, a particular subjective attitude of the human mind.

The Common-sense view simply and naively assumes the existence
of a direct relationship between words and reality. Objects arc there
in the first place, then different names are attached to them as labels.
In this view, the word 'table' meant directly this Cuncretc thing
which exists before our eyes. But the example of the word 'weed '
clearly shows that this is not the case; it shows that between the
word and the thing there intervenes a peculiar process of subjective
elaboration of reality. Our minds not only passively reflect the
structure of reality, but more positively look at reality from a par-
ticular point of view, a particular angle ; and it is this mental activity,
which the Gennans call Geist, that makes the thing really exist for
us. There is a certain act of creativity, an elaboration of the given
material in a certain direction, between reality and language. And
that precisely is the proper domain of Meaning. In modern ter-
minology, this may be expressed by saying that each word represents
a particular linguistic categorization of nonlinguistic reality. But

+ See for example his boot Vom Weitbilit d*r lirutKhen Sprache [Dtlsscldorf.

Principles vj Setaantit Analysis

categorization necessarily implies the mental process of gathering
many different things into a unity, and this is only possible on a
certain principle. This principle b the particular angle from which
man approaches reality, and it is conditioned culturally and histori-
cally.

The example of 'weed 3 is an extremely clear, but not in any way
an exceptional, case ; all the words we use are essentially more or less
of this nature, Benjamin Whorf.S by a detailed and systematic
comparison of the most representative Indo-European languages
such as English^ French, and German, on the one hand, and some
of the American Indian languages on the other, has brought to light
the astonishing fact that these two groups of people live in, and
experience, the world in two totally different ways. They cut up the
world of reality and classify it into totally different categories, on
entirely different principles.

The point may be elucidated by the English word 'table', T^t us
suppose that we have before us two tables, one round and the other
square. The word 'table' is applicable to both. In other words, wc
classify both the round tabic and the square as 'table'. A tabic is a
tabic whether it be round or square. Such is our common-sense view.
But this common-sense view comes from the fact, often ignored,
that we have a concept of table in Which form plays no decisive role.
Only because of this peculiarity in our concept of table do we classify
two individually different things as 'one thing*. In reality the round
table and the square table before our eyes are two different entities,
but in our mind they are essentially one and the same thing. I say
'essentially'': this essence is supplied by our basic mental attitude.

Benjamin Wfiorf found, to his amazement, that there exist in
non-Indo-European parts of the world peoples who classify and
categorize things in terms of their basic forms: round, square,
rectangular, cubic, solid, liquid, etc. For them the criterion of form
or shape is decisive in determining whether a thing belongs in this
category or that, In the eyes of these peoples, a round table and a
square table are two entirely different things and rnisst be designated
by two different names. From their point of view, there is absurdity,
something quite arbitrary, illogical, and incompatible with the
structure of reality itself, in the Western way of categorization, in
which such different things as a square object and a round object are
lumped together indiscriminately 111 one and the same Category.

By this simple example we can perceive clearly that there is no

* See Benjamin Lee Wnorf. LwitMg*-, Thvught, and Rpattty {Cambridge,
Mass., 1556.!. See also Paul Heiilc (ed.J, Language, Thought,, and Culture (Ann
ArW, 1958), for a cleif and con/as* eipouitism uf the etHrtemporary situation of
this branch of linguistic*.

Language and Culturt

solidly objective, simple, one-to-one Correspondence between a
thing and its name. Between them there always comes a peculiar
mental activity, the creative act of seeing subjectively the thing as
thing, a particular perspective., Thus, in our case of 'table ', the par-
ticular perspective we adopt is that of pragmatic utilitarianism. We
ignore the criteria of round and square and classify them both as
'table' simply because both are objects fabricated to serve the same
purpose. Here the formal difference naturally recedes into the back-
ground- While for some other peoples, it is precisely the shape of the
object that is decisive, because they look at the world in terms of
shape, not in terms of purpusc.

And if this is the case with such a simple word as * table ', how much
more, should it he the case with less common, objects and with higher
abstractions* All who have tried to translate from one language to
another know how embarrassingly difficult it is sometimes to render
adequately a very common word by a corresponding word or phrase
in another language. Very often we simply give up hope and say,
'it is absolutely untranslatable \ as Dr., Faust does in the beginning
part of Goethe's work, while grappling with the problem of trans-
lating the Greek word 'logos' into German,^

All this is ultimately due to the fact that each of these untranslat-
able words embodies a very particular mental attitude peculiar to the
community to which the language belongs. But these are merely some
of the special cases in which the intervention of a particular per-
spective underlying the word-meaning comes out with utmost and
unusual clarity. To tell the truth, this is more or less the case with
any word in any language. The difference between 'table" and 'logos '
in this respect is not so great as would appear at first sight.

Each one of our words represents a particular perspective in which
wc see the word, and what is called a ' concept ' is nothing but the
crystallization of such a subjective perspective, that is to say, it is a
more or less stable form assumed by the perspective. Of course the
perspective here in question is not subjective in the aense that it is
individual ; it is not individual but social, for it is the common posses-
sion of a whole community, handed down from preceding ages by
historical tradition. And yet it is subjective in the sense that it brings
in something of the positive human interest which makes our con-
ceptual representation of the world not an exact duplicate of objective
reality. And semantics is an analytical study of such perspectives
crystallized into words.

* All the key terms at the Qnr : 'lo are examples in. point of tbis fact, Take, for

instance, the wond kvfr. Suppose we tx*n»lite it ' diabeTitf '- Wh»t * difference! The
»Mt mflitn.1 attitude that underlies the conceptual structure of fmfr is loEt the
moment w* he gin \a ujiderSMm J it ill Ham* of tfw English CMeepi r>f L dMbettef ',

PrtTidples of Semantic Attafytit

Our immediate experience of reality is in itself ait undifferentiated
whole, as Henri Bcrgson has said. The Ancients called this kttU
or ' materia prima 3 (the hayuld of the Arabs), and quite recently the
French existentialists saw in it a chaotic, amorphous mass, where all
things lose their definite contour, and the world transforms itself
into an obscene, nude, blind mass of paste or dough which only
causes nausea. The human mind has carved out of this undifferentiated
whole a number of separate and individualized forms. The number
and- nature of these forms varies from people to people, and, in the
history of one people, from age to age, A rich vocabulary like that of
Arabic indicates that the people who use the language have isolated
more independent units out of the whole of reality than a people
with a poor vocabulary. What is important, however, is that each
people has gone its own way in determining what is to he isolated,
and from what point of view. That is to say, the process of carving
out separate forms is always dependent upon and directed by the
subjective interest of each particular community; it is determined
not so much by the objective similarity among things as by the
subjective perspective in which they are viewed. Whatever aspect of
reality appears significant for our hope and anxiety, or our desire
and will, or our acting and doing, that only is taken out as an in-
dependent segment and receives the stamp of a name, thereby
becoming a 'concept'. Only what is related to the focus of subjective
personal concern, -only what is felt to be essential to the whole scheme
of life, is selected from the ever -changing flux of impressions, and
becomes fixed with a special linguistic accent, which is nothing other
than what we generally call a 'name'.

Thus, upon the originally formless mass of existence, the human
mind has drawn an infinite number of lines, and made divisions and
segments, large and small; and the world of reality has in this way
received the imprints of linguistic and conceptual formulation ; and
an order has been brought into the original chaos.

The words, and the concepts they stand for, constitute a complex
system with many articulations. This organized whole behaves
somewhat like an intermediary screen between the human mind
and pre-conceptual reality, which reaches it modified, reflected, and
even distorted by the particular articulation of the screen.

Usually we are so accustomed to this middle screen, and it is
something so natural, so transparent, that we are not even aware of
its existence Wc naively believe that we are experiencing directly
and without any intermediary the objective world as it naturally is.
According to this common-seme view, the natural, objective world is
already there before our eyes from the very beginning, with its own
articulations and divisions, well-ordered and fully organized, We

Language and Culture

think that we simply perceive this organized world, form in our minds
as many concepts as there art natural divisions, name them, and so
make up our vocabulary.

Such a Common-sense view ignores the fact that any given aspect
of reality, to say nothing of the whole of reality which the Greeks
called Chaos, is properly speaking capable of being divided up into
as many segments as you like, in whatever way you like, and from
whatever angle you prefer. And without the mental ad of dividing
the raw materials of immediate experience into a number of in-
dependent units— the act of 'articulation ' as it is called in semantics
— the world would be completely meaningless and absurd, as the
existentialist philosophers say. We need not effect this articulation by
ourselves, for a ready-made system in the form of vocabulary is
always there as a cultural inheritance from our forefathers; and we
assimilate it when, as children, wc learn Our mother tongue.

Thus the immediate reality of existence, whatever it is, is not
presented to our ideation as it originally and naturally is, but rather
through the prism of symbols registered in our vocabulary. This
prism of symbols is not a mere imitation , a mere duplicate of the origi-
nal reality, and the symbols do not correspond exactly to the forms of
reality ; they are rather ideational forms, by the sole agency of which
anything becomes a real abject for our intellectual apprehension.

What is most important to remark in this respect is not only that
each community has its particular way of isolating the segments and
units, which arc therefore peculiar to itself, but that these segments
and units form among themselves a system. They are not simply
there without any order; on the contrary, they constitute a very
complex, highly organized, whole. And the way they are combined
and put in relation with each other is no less peculiar to the community
than the nature of the segments themselves, This organized whole,
peculiar to each Community, is what is Called vocabulary, 7

Vocabulary — or, more generally, language with its web of con-
notative patterns — is primarily a system of 'articulatory* forms, in
accordance with which we dissect the perpetual flux of nature into a
certain number of entities and events. In Benjamin WhorTs pertinent
words, each language is 'a provisional analysis of reality', since
'Language dissects nature differently'. Even the same kind of
ordinary experience is usually segmented by different languages in
different ways. Out of one and the same situation, different languages
tend to isolate different categories of essentials ; and each language
has its own peculiar way of grouping the units thus isolated into a

T On Lh* structure of ' weatmliLry ' 115 *n organized sjst™ flf (Amceptual inert™ A,
sec my God and Man m the Koran, Chapter 1, Section 4, ' Vocabulary and W«]tui-<
Bchfljuung '.

J J

Principles of Semantic Analysis

certain number of higher systems., which again are put together into
a comprehensive network of concepts. And that is vocabulary.

Each vocabulary, or connotative system, represents and embodies a
particular world-view (Weltanschauung) which transforms the raw
material of experience into a meaningful, 'interpreted' world.
Vocabulary in this sense is not a single-stratum structure. It com-
prises a number of sub-vocabularies, existing side by side with —
usually — overlapping areas between. And the conceptual network
formed by ethical terms is one of such relatively independent sub-
vocabutaries, consisting of a number of relatively independent con-
ceptual sectors, each with its own world-view.

Semantically a moral code is a sector of this meaningfully ' inter-
preted' world. Such a statement may at once remind the reader of
Dr. John Ladd's contention in hie remarkable book, The Structure
of a Moral Code? that a moral code i& part of an ideology. There are
in fact many points of resemblance between my standpoint and his;
and these may be due in the last analysis to the fact that in establishing
my own theory I owe much to his penetrating insights into the nature
of moral discourse* There is, however, one basic difference between
us. It is that he has carried out his investigation of Navaho ethics
on the evidence of ethical 'statements' as distinguished from
'sentences*. In more concrete terms, he has relied on translated
information as his primary evidence. At the beginning of his work,
we find him trying to justify his position by drawing a clear-cut
distinction between a sentence and a statement. The sentences 'Das
Haus iat wciss 1 , 'La maison est blanche', and 'The house is white 1 ,
he argues, arc different sentences, but all make the same statement.
In a 'statement 5 one does not have to specify what words are actually
employed to communicate it, nor does it matter at all what language
it is couched in. 1 le goes on Co say that this particular characteristic of
the ' statement ' was especially valua ble id reporting his interviews with
his native informant because, since he did not understand the Navaho
language, he could not know what sentences the informant used.'*

Now this, as I have suggested earlier, is exactly contrary to what I
am about to do in my work. From my standpoint, what matters most
is the uttered sentences of an informant, not his statements, which
are said to remain the same in whatever language they may be
clothed. The very existence of some such thing as 'statement*,
common to many different languages, seems to me highly question-
able. If, as Professor Roger Brown 10 suggests, even such commonplace

* John Lfldd, Tfit Structure *f a Marat Co4t (Cambridge, Ma**-, 1957)-

* lHJ. t p. ar.

i* Rupa: Brown, 'Lshsusrs and Categories.', published u tin appendix tc A
Study of TfiitiiiiHg by ) . 8. Bruniier, J. J. Goodnow, and G. A, Austin (New York,

Language and Culture

words as mere and 'mother* arc not Strictly identical and the French
word amk differs in an important way from both German Freundm
and English 'lady friend', it is quite unlikely that a sentence used to
communicate a moral judgment in one language should be precisely-
duplicated in other languages,

Edward Sapir has repeatedly remarked that even comparatively
simple acta of perception are controlled in large measure by the
social patterns of connotation, and are therefore culturally relative. 11
If this is so, how much more should this be true of valuations! acta
in the field of human conduct and character. Every culture has a
number of traditional patterns of moral evaluation which have be-
come crystallized historically in the body of its ethical terms, and
these conversely furnish the Speakers of the language with a complete
set nf channels through which to categorisre all moral phenomena. By
using the semantic patterns of their native language, the members of a
community can easily analyze, report, and evaluate any human
action or character. But this involves a commitment to living in
strict conformity with the norms of evaluation that are codified in the
ethical terms of that language,

How are we to devise a scientifically reliable, method of analyzing
the fundamental structure of such a semantic field? How is it possible
to explore the semantic categories of a given language in a way that
will fulfill the requirements of a scientific investigation? By 'scien-
tific' I mean primarily empirical or inductive, and, in the specific
contest of the present inquiry, an analytic study of ethical terms that
will be as little prejudiced as possible by any theoretical position of
moral philosophy.

The best way to proceed, in my opinion, is to try to describe the
semantic category of a word in terms of the conditions in which it is
used. What features of the environment are necessary if the word is
to be used properly to designate a given event? Only by attempting
to answer such a question Can we arrive at the correct meaning of a
given word.

The choice of this method is based on my conviction that language,
in its connotativc aspect, is first and foremost an important manifesta-
tion of that tendency to categorize sg characteristic of the human
mind. 1 *

1956). which is, to my knowledge, by for the beet treatise evar written, on this
subject, See particularly p. J 1 1 .

11 See, fof eiamf.le, his 'The Status of LintTjisrica aa a Sticruoc", Srletitd
Writirqp (Los Angeles, msi), pp. 160 3.

*2 for a detailed scientific sccaunc of the pboeesn nf categorization in general
*n.d its importance in the structure of the human mind, I would refer to the pre-
viously cited work A Study of Thinking, by BrunTier, Govdruuw, *nd Austin,

PrtTtciptes of Semantic Analysis

The ethicn-reltpous terms of a given languid* form & particular
system of categories which is comprised within the larger connotative
system of the language in question. The central problem for the
Investigator is to seek the defining attributes for each term, by virtue
of which an illimitable number of discrirninably different persons or
yets axe categorized into a class and thus receive a common name.
By examining analytically the key ethico-religious terms in a lan-
guage, the investigator may gradually come to know the basic
structure of the system through which all events involving moral
judgment are filtered before appearing in an accessible form to the
members of that Language community,

The process just described is precisely the process of language-
learning in children. And in this type of inquiry the investigator
deliberately places himself in the awkward position of an infant
beginning to speak its mother tongue, or that of an anthropological
Linguist faced with an entirely unknown language. The child learns
the use of the word 'apple' by observing the behavior of his parent-
tutor in naming it, and so establishes a denotive relationship between
the word and the familiar kind of fruit. Ey repeating this process
many times, he comes to group new instances into the class afpi e
by means of such perceived properties as size, color, and shape. In
just the same way the child learns the use of moral vocabulary. The
way in which he learns to apply a particular ethical term to a particular
type of situation does not differ in any essential point from the way
in which he Learns to apply the word 'apple' to a certain sort of
object.

Perhaps wc may profitably remind ourselves at this juncture of the
Original Word Game referred to by Roger Brown. 1J In this game the
player, hy carefully observing his tutor's use of the l original' word,
tries to relate it with a particular nonlinguistic category. In order to
succeed, the player must first of all isolate correctly the criterial
features of the nonlinguistic category. In other words, he must
discover what particular kind of stimulus has elicited just that kind
of verbal response from his tutor.

The task is indeed no easy one* In most cases a whole process of
trial and error has to be gone through before the player grasps as he

According to the authors of this boot, categofiwUon may b*W fee <3*fijned as the
cognitive operation by which ongajiiams code the events <jf their environment into
n certain number of clans. For UiTthiiiH ot my event to be classified in this way,
it must pesaftsa a certain number of defining attribute*, by tirWe of -wbith iuth
cat*£ori*l djffeKttti&tioji becomes at a]] pOHsiMe. The evidence for the existence
of a category ia the occurence of common response to #n army of Oojecli or tvents
on the part of the organisms concerned. A category once formed, the individual
begins to show » marked tendency to respond tfl *fl stray of objects and events in
terms of their class membership rather than their uniqueness {Chapter I, pp. 1-34).
" Brown, pp. 464-185.

Language and Culture

should the tutor's use of words. And so it is, essentially, with our
investigator. Re sets out to observe minutely all the available
instances of the actual use of ethico-religious terms, analyzes care-
fully the situational contexts, constructs hypotheses, which in turn
he must check against further evidence and revise if necessary, and
hopes in this way to arrive at a satisfactory solution to his problem.

This is, in outline, what we arc going to do with the ethico-
religious terms of the Quran. But of course we arc not so severely
handicapped as the infant who as yet possesses no language, or even
as the anthropological linguist. For classical Arabic is one of the best-
known languages in the world, explored to the minutest details of
both grammar and vocabulary. We have good dictionaries; much
philological work has been done; and, in the domain of Qur'anic
exegesis in particular, we are provided with many authoritative old
commentaries. For theoretical reasons, however, our methodological
principle forbids us to rely too heavily on these secondary sources.
They are to be used at the very most as valuable auxiliaries; we must
not forget that they may prove nwre misleading than enlightening,
unless we are very cautious in availing ourselves of the cvidenee they
afford.

All this may give the impression that I am making the problem
needlessly difficult, when the object of inquiry is a well-explored
Language, That this is not the case will, I hope, gradually be made
clear in the course of this book. Here I want only to draw attention
to on* important point. Ihis seemingly tedious, roundabout pro-
cedure has a very obvious advantage over all others as a practical
method of dealing with ethical terms. It enables us to analyze words
of moral evaluation by the same process as we- use for words of Other
kinds. Viewed from the standpoint of this method, ethical terms —
particularly those belonging to the primary level of ethical language —
Stand quite on a par with ordinary name-words such as 'table 3 ,
'apple', l eat t , 'walk', or 'red'. For the underlying process of
learning is essentially the same in all types of words.

J 5

L The Scope and
Focus of the Study

Islam, which arose in the seventh century in Arabia, un-
doubtedly represents one of the most radical religious reforms that
have ever appeared in the East; and the Quran, the earliest authentic
record of tin's great event, describe* in. vividly concrete terms bow
in thiH period of crisis the time-honored tribal norms came into
bloody conflict with new ideals of life, began to totter, and, after
desperate and futile efforts to resist, finally yielded the hegemony to
the rising power. The Arabia of this epoch, from the pre- Islamic
time of heathendom to the earliest days of Islam, is of particular
importance to anyone interested in the problems of ethical thinking,
in that it provides excellent case material for studying the birth and
growth of a moral code.

In the so-called Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyah), the pagan period
prior to the advent of Islam, strange customs and ideas connected
with idolatrous beliefs were rampant among the nomadic Arabs.
Most of these Islam rejected positively as essentially incompatible
with divine revelation; but a considerable number of them it adopted,
with modifications in form and substance, and succeeded in making
out of them high moral ideas to be incorporated into the new code
of Islamic ethics. By following carefully the semantic transformations

The Scope and Foau of the Study

which the principal ethical terms in the Arabic language underwent
during this most critical period of its history, I hope not only to
reveal the guiding spirit of the Islamic moral code T hut also to throw
fresh light on the more general theoretical problems of ethical dis-
course and the role it plays in human culture.

The very nature of Quranic thought makes it necessary for us to
distinguish between three layers of moral discourse. There are, in
other words, three different categories of ethical concepts in the
Quran: those that refer to and describe the ethical nature of God;
those that describe the various aspects of the fundamental attitude
of man towards God, his Creator; and those that refer to the prin-
ciples and rules of conduct regulating the ethical relations among
individuals who belong to, and live within, the religious community
of Islam,

The first gioup is composed of the so-called Names of God:
words such as 'Merciful', 'Benevolent 1 , 'Forgiving 1 , 'Just', or
'Majestic 1 , describing this or that particular aspect of God, Who is
conceived in the Qurian, as in all Semitic religions, as being of an
essentially ethical nature. This group of concepts, which was later
to be developed by the theologians into a theory of divine attributes
and which may aptly be described as Divine Ethics, lies outside the
scope of this book.

Over against this Divine Ethics may be put Human Ethics, com-
prising the two remaining groups of concepts. The second group
concerns the baste ethical relationship of man to God, The very fact
that, according to the Quranic conception, God is of an ethical
nature and acts upon man in an ethical way 1 carries the. grave im-
plication that man, on his part, is expected to respond in an ethical
way. And man's ethical response to God's actions is, in the Qur'anic
view, religion itself. It is, in other words, at the same time both ethics
and religion. For to say that a man should take up such and such an
Attitude to God in response to His initial attitude to mankind, and
that man should act in such and such a way in accordance with God's
commands and prohibitions, is both ethical and religious teaching.
In this sense, all the concepts belonging to this second class may be
described as cthico- religious concepts. And it is this particular class
of ethico-religioLis concepts in the Qur'an that wiU constitute the
proper subject of study in this book.

The third group relates to the baUc ethical attitude of a man to his
brethren living in the same community. The social life of the indivi-
dual 13 ruled and regulated by a certain set of moral principles with

1 On this particular problem sec Izutsu, God and Man in the Koran (Tokyo,

1964), Chapter IK.

Principles of S&mnttic Analysis

all their derivatives. These regulations constitute what we may call
the system of social ethics, soon to be developed in the post-Quranic
period into the grand-scale system of Islamic jurisprudence' Properly
speaking, this also lies outside the scope of the present study, al-
though reference will often be made to it, especially in the first part
of the book, which attempts to distinguish between the ethical prin-
ciples of the Qur'an and those of Jahilivah.

It must be borne in mind, of course, that these three groups do
not in any way stand aloof from one another, hut are most closely
related. And this comes from the basic fact that the Quranic world-
view is essentially thcoccntrie. The image of God pervades the whole
of it, and nothing escapes His knowledge and providence. Semantic-
ally this means that, in general, no major concept id the Qur'an
exists quite independently of the concept of God and that in the sphere
of human ethics each one of its key concepts is but a pule reflection
— or a very imperfect imitation — of the divine nature itself, or refers
to a particular response elicited by divine actions.

It is significant that the second class of ethico-religious terms is
ultimately reducible to two most basic concepts in striking contrast
to each other: absolute trust in, God and pious fear of Him. 2 This
polarity is nothing but a reflection in the believing mind of man of the
very polarity which is observable in the nature of God Himself:
His infinite goodness, benevolence, mercy, and loving care, on the
one hand ; and His wrath, spirit of vengeance, and ruthless chastise-
meot of those who disobey, on the other. Human ethics, the ethico-
religious attitude of man. towards God, is in this sense a reflection of
divine ethics.

Fundamentally the same holds true of the third group of concepts
which expresses the various aspects of the ethical relationship among
members of ihe Muslim community, Man should act with justice
and righteousness towards his brethren because God's actions are
always absolutely just and righr. Man should never do wrong (shu/im)
to others because God Himself never does wrong to anybody.
Everywhere; in the Qur^n man is admonished not to wrong others.
or himself in his human relations. And this is but a reflection of the
nature of God, Who repeats that He will never do wrong 'even by the
weight of an ant* or 'by a single date-thread 1 , and declares in one

7 do absolutely no wrong to My servants p.c, the believers] J J
(L, 28/29)

1 The fioimar is expressed in the Qur'iti by the key words iiiffsa ttind ftHfitt, and the
latter by taipmi-

3 More literally, ' I am not a wronR-docr {pall&m an emphatic form of pUzrtt
mewiim; "he who wrongs ocheH'Y

Tht Stop* and Fwtti of the Stwdy

The Qur'an also teaches that one should treait one's parents with
kindness out of mercy when they attain old age:

Thy Lord has decreed that you should serve none save Him, and
that you should be kind to parents. If one or both of them attain
old age with thec, say not ' Fie !' unto them nor chide them, but
speak unto them respectful words and lower unto them the wing
of humbleness out of mercy {rattmah), and say, 'My Lard, have
mercy (irham) upon theirt, just as they raised me Up when I was a
small child.' (XVII, 34.-25/23-24}

It is worth observing that here the connects rig link between God's
nature and. human ethics is furnished by the key concept of * mercy'
(rafrmah), which is common to both orders of being. And, if we re-
member that the Qur'an never tires of emphasising God's mercy and
compassion, it will be easy to see that, in the Qut'anic eonccptioii,
the human rahtrtnh is but an imitation on the part of man of the divine
rahmah itself.

This basic dependence uf human ethics 00 divine ethics comes
out in a mare definite form in the following vcrcsc, which clearly
states that one should try to pardon and forgive others because God
Himself is always ready to forgive and be compassionate.

And let not those of you who possess plenty and ease swear not to
give to kinsmen and the poor and the emigrants in the way of God.
Let them forgive and show indulgence (even if the latter do not
satisfy them in every respect). Do you not wish that God should
forgive you? God is Forgiving {gkafur), Merciful [rahim). (XXI V,

This much is, I think, enough to show how the three groups of
ethical concepts are closely related to each other. In analyzing any
of the major Qur J anic concepts relating to human ethics, we should
never lose sight of their fundamental relationship to the ethical nature
of God Himself,

It is characteristic of contemporary ethical literature that philo-
sopher*, when they discuss the nature and structure of ethical lan-
guage, arc mostly concerned with words of the Secondary level of
moral discouracj Such as 'good" and 'bad'. Indeed, 'good' is their
favorite word. They tend to engage in endless discussions of such
problems as 'What do we mean when we utter the sentence "X is
good"? 1 , 'Arc there such things as "good -making properties" in the
world?', or 'Does "good" describe something or is it simply an
expression of emotion?' T do not in any way deny the importance of
these problems, but it is also true that by so doing the moral philoso-
phers overlook the very significant fact that in actual life our moral

Principles of Semantic Analysis

evaluations are mainly made on the primary level of discourse. In
ordinary circumstances we pass a moral judgment on other people
by saying, for example, 'So-and-So is a very pious man', or 'So-
and-So is a hypocrite'. 'Pious' and 'hypocrite *, like 'humble',
'generous', or 'stingy', are ethical terms of the primary level. And
the system of these and similar words determines the true character-
istics of the moral code of a community.

Now words of the primary level arc essentially descriptive, whilst
Secondary-level ethical words are essentially evaluative. The word
'generous' is first and foremost a genuine descriptive word; although,
insofar as it evaluates the quality of generosity as praiseworthy, it is
more than mere description. It is, then, primarily descriptive and
secondarily evaluative.

Primary -level ethical terms are ordinary descriptive words that
are normally used with more or less serious ethical implications, The
main function of the secondary-level terms is classiflcatory; they are
chiefly employed to classify various descriptive properties, such as
'humility' or 'generosity', into a recognized category of moral
values. When, for example, we call a man 'good* because he has a
set of properties generally designated as 'humble 1 , we are thereby
ranging humility in. the class of praiseworthy qualities. Id this sense,
secondary ethical terms may justly be called ethical metalanguage, and
the distinction between primary and secondary level would roughly
answer to the logician's distinction between object-words and logical
words.

Ethical words of the primary level are, then, descriptive words
charged with an ethical or evaluative force. It is important to keep
in mind, when trying to analyse the ethical language of any given
community, that the main body of a moral code is, linguistically,
always composed of words of this category. And this is, of course,
true of the Quranic moral code,

It has often been said that, at the time of the Revelation, the Arab
did not yet possess an abstract concept of good and bad. This is.
simply a difFercnr way of saying that the real mechanism of the
Qur'anic moral code works on the level of primary ethical terms.
The point will become much clearer if we cast a cursory glance
at the so-called five categories of acts (aftham) which were developed
by the fiqk scholars of later ages, arid which represent genuine second-
ary ethical terms.

i. laajib, 'obligatory', duties prescribed by God as absolutely

necessary, neglect of which is punishable by law.
X, maitdab, ' recommended ' * duties recommended but not obligatory)

i Aiao called tnasniin.

The Scope and Focus of the Study

fulfilment of which is rewarded, but neglect of which is not
necessarily punishable.

3. jtPiz, 'indifferent', 5 actions that may or may not be done, entailing
neither punishment nor reward either way.

4. rnakrOk, ' disapproved ' , actions dis appro ved but not forbidden, not-
doing of which is rewarded, but doing of which is not punishable,

5. mahxur, ' prohibited','* actions forbidden by God, and therefore
punishable by law H

These five terms for tbe categories of the believers' acts represent
an elaborate system of metalanguage in which any act has its proper
place and is evaluated with reference to a fixed standard of good and
bad. The role of these terms is not to describe concrete properties;
it consists in classing aL deeds as belonging to one or other of the
five categories of ethical value. Such a System of well-developed
secondary ethical terms is not to be found in the Quran itself. It i3
but a superstructure, and the real basis of the ethical life of the
Muslim is a far more intricate network of moral values expressed
by innumerable ethical terms belonging to the primary level of
discourse.

Not that Qur'anic ethics has no words of the level of metalanguage.
There are in the Qur'In words that must be regarded as more evalu-
ative than descriptive. Most, if not all, of the terms that will be treated
in Chapter XI, under 'Good and Bad 1 , do behave, at least in some
of their uses, as genuine secondary terms. Words like khayr and
short for 'good* and 'bad 1 , or words meaning 'sin", such as dhanb
and itktn, are classiflcatory rather than descriptive in both nature
and function. The important point to note, however, is that by them-
selves they do not form a whole system of moral ideas. The system of
moral ideas actually at work in the Quran is based almost exclusively
on primary-level value-words.

The difference between the two leveta will be made clear by a
consideration of a few concrete cases. Take, for example, the word
kufr, which is one of the most important value-words in the Qur'an.
The word means the attitude of ungratefulness towards favors and
benefits received. As such, it is a genuine descriptive word with a
concrete factual content. At the same time, it is clear that the word is
invested with an evaluative aura which makes it more than mere
description. And it is this evaluative aura or halo, which surrounds
the descriptive Core of its meaning, that makes kufr an authentic
ethical term on the primary level. A comparison of this word with
one like dhanb, belonging rather to the level of metalanguage, will at
once confirm this view.

3 Also called, mu&tfft 'altuircd'.
* Aba called, fiaratn.

Principles of Semantic Analysis

Dksnb, as I shall show presently, denotes in most cases inthcQuriin
the same thing as ktifr. Both may refer ultimately to the same state of
affairs, but they refer to the same thing in two characteristically
different ways. While ktiff COrlveys, primarily, factual information
about a case of ungratefulness or disbelief and only secondarily
suggests that it is bad, dhattb first of all condemns it as belonging
in the class of negative or reprehensible properties. In (be former, the
evaluative force is but an aura, in the latter it is evaluation itself that
constitutes the semantic cone of the word.

Thus, in the semantic behavior of the primary ethical terms, we
haive to isolate two different layers : descriptive and evaluative. True,
as a matter of actual fact, these two layers of meaning are fused
together into a semantic whole, hut it is theoretically possible and
even necessary to draw a dividing line between them. Thus, in the
essentially nonreligious context of Jahillyafi, 'humility' and 'self-
surrender' were considered something disgraceful, a manifestation
of weak and ignoble character, whilst 'haughtiness* and 'refusal to
obey' were, in the eyes of pre-Islamic Arabs, marts of noble
nature. With the advent of Islam, the balance was completely over-
turned. Now, in the purely monotheistic context of Islam, 'humility'
in the presence of God and total 'self-surrender' to Him became the
highest virtues, and 'haughtiness' and 'refusal to obey' the marks of
irrtligiouaness. In other words, the terms denoting these personal
properties completely changed their value. While the descriptive
layer of their meaning remained the same, their evaluative force
changed from negative to positive or from positive to negative,

It may be argued that, in ethical matters, the levels of object-
langLiage and metalanguage are not separated by a clear line of
demarcation, that it is extremely doubtful whether the two 5 if they do
exist, are really so fundamentally different. To a certain degree, such
an objection is well-founded. We have to admit that, as far as natural
language is concerned,, everything begins at the primary level. Even
what I have called here the 'secondary' ethical terms must, in accord-
ance with the universal rule of language growth, originate in the
sphere of ordinary descriptive words, to develop from there through a
number of stages towards the ideal type of 'pure' value-words. So,
in a sense, all differences between the two levels of ethical speech
may be reduced uldmately to one of 'more or less'. But here, as
elsewhere, difference of degree, when it goes beyond a certain limit,
changes into a difference of kind. Thus, even such a representative
ethical term of the secondary level as the English word 'good' has
Still a descriptive aspect. Only this descriptive element in 'good* is so
trivial and insignificant as Compared with its evaluative aspect that

The Scope stid Focttt of tfu Study

wc can safely consider it an authentic member of the ethical meta-
language.

'Pure' value-words of the type of 'good' are very few and far
between in the Quran. The Qur'anic moral code as a linguistic
structure is mainly composed of primary ethical terms in the sense
just explained, with a few secondary terms scattered here and there.
The formation of a systematic ethical metalanguage in Islam is the
wort of jurisprudence in its first centuries. And it is the former class
of words that plays the leading n>le in structuring the Qur'anic moral
consciousness.

IL The Method
of Analysis and Its
Application

Theme are a vahirTy of ways ny which One c;]!Ts 'm know the
meaning of a foreign word, The simplest and commonest — but
unfortunately the least reliable — is by being told an equivalent word
in one's own language: the German word Gatte, for example, means
the same as the English 'husband'. In this way the Arabic kdfir
might be explained as meaning the same as 'misheliever', $&Em as
'evil-doer', dfmid) as 'sin', and so on. There can be no question that
there is recognizably Sume Sort of Semantic equivalence in each case ;
on the other hand, anyone acquainted with the Arabic, language will
have to admit on reflection that these apparently nearest equivalents
are fat from being able to do justice to the original words, A $diim t
for example, is not exactly an 'evil-doer'; between kafir and 'mis-
believer 3 there is a difference too important to be ignored.

In my Introduction I pointed out the danger of drawing hasty
conclusions from such equivalences. In point of fact, translation
turns out to be far more frequently misleading than enlightening. Nor
is this hard to account for. As Professor Richard Robinson has
rightly seen, 1 every word-word definition, of the fAxlte-means-
husband type, implies a word-thing definition to those who already

1 Fielurd Robinson, Defimtim [Oxford, 1950), Chipitr II, Section 2.

The Method of Analysis and Its Application

know what " husband ' means in English. In exactly the same way,
if the equivalence ¥&Um= evil-doer is given to hearers or readers who
know only the meaning of 'evil-doer', tliey have no other way of
learning the meaning of zaUm than by putting it into the semantic
category of ' evil-doer'. They understand it, if they understand at all,
not directly but only by analogy with the connotation of 'evil-doer'.
By going through the semantic category of another word formed in
the tradition of an alien culture, the meaning of the word is in danger
of distortion. To avoid this danger, measures should be taken to
transform the word-word definition, ?£#«= evil-doer, not into such
an indirect word-thing definition but into a direct one, correlating
the word immediately to a definite piece of nonlinguistic reality.

To translate falim by ' evil-doer' or ' wrong-doer ' may be a simple
expedient for getting to know the meaning of the word, and presum-
ably no one will deny the advantage of this expedient as a practical
first step in language-learning. But it is just a first step. Tf we wish to
grasp the semantic category of the word itself, wc must inquire what
sort of man, whit type of character, what kind of acts are actually
designated by this name in Old Arabic — in our specific case, in the
Qutlin, Even a single example, provided that it is well-selected and
relevant, may prove extremely illuminating :

The curse of God is on the xalimin [pi, of stilim] who try to debar
men from God's path, desire to have it crooked, and would never
believe in the next world. {Vil, 42-43/44-45)

Docs this not constitute in itself a kind of verbal definition of
zalimi

And wc have in the Qur : an a huge number of similar examples
of the use of the same word. By gathering them In one place, com-
paring them, checking them against one another, may we not reason-
ably hope to get an original word-thing definition of this Arabic
word? That this is possible will be shown on many occasions in the
course of this book.

Turning now to the equivalence kafir = misbeliever (or 'dis-
believer" or 'unbeliever'), wc may observe at once the essential
difference of the outer structure itself. Unlike the equivalence
ttiifiHitah = manliness, to be discussed later, the two halves of this
equivalence show no correspondence in word structure. The Arabic
word kafir, to begin with, is an independent unit of structure which
cannot be further analysed into component elements* Whichever
English equivalent we may choose clearly consists of two parts: an
clement implying a negative (mis-, dis-, un-) and another element
representing what may be called the material side of the meaning.
This material part is, in each case, 'believer'. That is to say that the

Prmapks of Semantic Analysis

semantic categories of the English equivalents of kafir are all baaed
on the fundamental concept of belief.

There is, to be sure, no denying that the semantic category of the
Arabic word kafir itself contains an important: dement of * belief \
But, it must be remembered, this is not the only basic semantic
constituent of the word, nor is it the original one. An examination uf
prc-Islamic literature discloses that the real cone of its semantic
structure was by no means 'un-belicf h , but rather "ingratitude' or
"unlhankfulness'. The word kafir was origi rally the contrary of
thttkit, 'one who is thankful'.

In Islam, as we shall sec later on, one of the keynotes of belief is
gratitude, thankfulness. And this is the counterpart of the Quranic
conception of God as the gracious, merciful Lord of men and all
beings. In fact the Qur'an never tires of emphasizing the purely
gratuitous act of benevolence on the part of Almighty God, which
He bestows upon all beings. In return, man owes Him the duty of
being thankful for His grace and goodness. Kafir is a man who does
not, would not show any sign of gratitude in his conduct.

The word kafir comes to acquire in the Qur'an the secondary
meaning of "one who does not believe in God ' because it occurs very
frequently in contrast to the word mitmm, which means 'one who
Considers something absolutely true' or 'one who believe* \ and to
the word vtusUm, meaning 'one who has completely surrendered
himself to the will of God', More generally speaking, the semantic
category of a word tends to be very strongly influenced by the neigh-
boring words belonging to the same meaning field. And when the
nature of a word is such that it comes to he used with remarkable
frequency in specific contexts alongside its antonym, it must of
necessity acquire a noticeable semantic value from this frequent
combination. Thus one and the same word, kafir, comes to mean a
different thing according to its use as the Contrary ofshahir, ' one who
thanks', or as the contrary of mu'tnin, 'one who believes'. In the
first case it means an 'ingrate', and in the second 'unbeliever 1 . The
first important semantic element — and it is the original one — is
completely lost the moment we begin, to interpret the word kafir
solely in terms of 'belief \

The semantic discrepancy between words and their foreign
'equivalents' naturally increases as we turn to those regions of exist-
ence where unique modes of vision tend to dominate and where
language is charged with the task of reflecting and expressing the
truly ethnic features of a people's life. Indeed we might lay down as a
general rule that the more a word is expressive of a deep-rooted
ethnic feature of a given culture, the harder it becomes to transpose it

The Method of Analysis and Itt Application

properly into another language. There are in every language a certain
number of words that are notoriously untranslatable. Such is for
instance English *huraor', French 'esprit', or German 'GcmuV,

Such also are words like hamdsah, muruwaft, and jalil in Old Arabic,
which are all typical of the life and manners of pagan nomadic Arabia
in contrast tu the Islamic ethical culture. The first word, hamfcah, is
explained by Professor R, A. Nicholson 2 as denoting a peculiar
combination of bravery in battle, patience in misfortune, persistence
in seeking blood revenge, protection of the weak, and defiance of the
Strong. As we shall see later, this is but a very rough-and-ready sort
of approximation. But even this much cannot properly he conveyed
by 'courage' or 'bravery', which is usually given as its English equiva-
lent

Now if we take a further step and add to this complex of noble
qualities two more important elements, that lavish generosity so
characteristic of the desert Arabs, so weD typified by the semi-
legendary figure of Hatim Ta% and the unswerving loyalty to tribal
interests which is no less characteristic, then we have another virtue
called muruseah.

The muriheah represents the highest idea of morality among the
Bedouin, the virtue of virtues, or better still, all the ideal virtues of the
desert combined in one. The word marQwah, as far as concerns the
outward form, seems to correspond admirably well with 'man-ncss',
being composed of a radical with the meaning of 'man' (as opposed
to 'woman') and a formator which confers on all radicals to which it
is annexed an abstract sense of quality or property. So the word
means etymologically something like 'the property of being a man',
and cine may feci amply justified in using the English word 'man-
liness* as an exact equivalent of mvtHimh, As a matter of fact, this
may do in contexts where no need arises for semantic precision. But
it must always be borne in mind that the equivalence between the
two ts limited to the purely formal side of the word structure. And
it is precisely where the purely formal ends that semantic problems
of real import begin. For the content of nww-li-ness itself must of
necessity vary according to the set of features of •man chusen a& the
keynote of the semantic category. And the number of characteristic
features of man is practically limitless. Even supposing that all
languages agreed on the point of considering the quality-of-being-a-
man sufficiently relevant to social life to give it an independent lin-
guistic expression, each language would have its own peculiar way of
selecting a certain number of features from among many, and its own
peculiar way of combining the elements thus selected into a par-
ticular semantic category. So it is with the Arabic murmuak. Its

* ft. A. MiehokiCEi, A Literary fHilory iff tht Ajvtt (Cambridge, 1953), [>. 79.

Principles of Semantic: Analysis

meaning, as a semantic category, has behind it a long history of
nomadic life in the Arabian waste; it is so deeply immersed in the
atmosphere of desert Jife, that only copiuua notes about the latter
can make it understandable in its true peculiarity.

The third of the words mentioned above, jahl, has a story of a
somewhat different kind to offer, Since a consideration of this word
15 of direct relevance to the immediate subject of my book, I shall
here describe in some detail the basic structure of its semantic
category. I shall try to avoid as far as possible the needless repetition
of what Ignaz Goldzihcr established a good many years ago in his
famous study,3

Before Goldziher published his paper and showed in a conclusive
manner how one should properly understand this word, jtihl had
long been thought, even among Arab philologists, to be the exact
opposite of 'j'/flf, 'knowledge ', with, consequently, the basic meaning
of 'ignorance*. So it came about quite naturally that the most import-
ant derivative of this word, jdhitiyak, by means of which the Muslims
used to denote (lie state of affairs before the rise of Islam, was
generally understood, and translated, as- the 'Age of Ignorance'. Now
the method which Goldzihcr adopted in his attempt to elucidate the
original meaning of the word coincides in all essential points with
what I call in this book the method of semantic analysis. He collected
a large number of important examples of the actual use of the root
JUL in pre-Ialamic poetry, subjected them to a careful analysis, and
reached the remarkable conclusion that the usual traditional opinion
about jahillyttb was fundamentally erroneous. Juki, according to his
conclusion, is not the opposite of 'ilm\ in its primary sense, it stands
opposed to hilttt, which denotes 'the moral reasonableness of a
civilized man' {Nicholson), including roughly speaking such char-
acteristics as forbearance, patience, clemency, and freedom from blind
passion, Tf we add to these another important element, * power', the
subject's clear consciousness of his power and superiority, the
picture is eumplete. In later usage, and sometimes even in pre-
Islamic poetry, we find jahl used as the real antithesis of Y/im, but
only in a secondary and derivative sense; its primary semantic func-
tion is to refer to the implacable, reckless temper of the pagan Arabs.

Let us now turn to the problem : How did the Prophet himself
conceive of the state of jafatryahi What did the word mean to
Muhammad and his contemporaries? in the Simt al-Nabl (The Tife
of the Prophet) by Ibn Ishaq there is an interesting story told of an
old pagan named Shas ibn Qays. The event occurred not very long

a Iffni^ ij.:jEJ>.i>if:r, Mnhamrn&datiLfCht Sivtiiftt (I la]li\ iSRft), I, 3 n) IF. For a more
detailed and more systematic analysis cE the word, see my Gad a>wi Man in the

Koran, Chapter VitJ.

The Method of Analysis and Its Application

after the Prophet's Hijrah to Medina. This 'enemy of God ' was an
old man, most stubborn in offering resistance to the new religion and
showing a bitter hostility to the followers of Muhammad, One day he
passed by a group of An$£ra from Aws and Khasraj, twn important
Mcdinite tribes, once implacable enemies, hut now tied together by a
newly formed bond of friendship under the leadership of the Prophet,
and fighting for a common cause. When he saw them talking together
in a happy and friendly fashion, he was suddenly filled with envy and
rage. He secretly instigated a Jewish youth to sit with them and
recite verses composed by poets of both tribes to remind them of
a series of blood feuds and ferocities that had happened in pagan
times.

Things went as he wished. A violent quarrel arose among the
people. And at the provocative words of one of them, ' Do you desire
to recommence it? Wc are ready V all went out to a volcanic tract near
by, crying ' To arms ! To arms J*

When the news reached the Prophet he hurried to the spot and
said to them, l O believers, how dare you forget God? Are you again
tempted by the call of the jlhillyah ibt-difvpa al-jdhillyah), when I
am here among you, when God has guided you to Islam, honored
you, and cut off thereby the bond of Jahiliyah from you (qatcfa bibi
'snhwm amr al-jdhiliyak) delivered you from disbelief, and made you
friends of each other?' Upon this they realized that all this was due
to Satan's instigation, and wept embracing one another. 4

This passage brings out two important points concerning the word
in question. First, that the jdhiliyah was conceived by Muhammad
and his companions not as a period of time that had now passed away,
but rather as something dynamic, a certain psychological state
apparently driven away by the new force of Islam, but surviving
secretly even in the minds of the believers, ready to break in at any
moment upon their consciousness; and that this was felt by the
Prophet to be a standing menace to the new religion. Secondly, that
the jahiliyah had practically nothing to do with 'ignorance'; that it
meant in reality the keenest sense of tribal honor, the unyielding
spirit of rivalry and arrogance, and alL tliu rough and rude practices
coming from an eKtreme.lv passionate temper.

It is precisely here, if anywhere, that the true significance of the
Islamic movement as a great work of moral reformation must be
sought. In brief, the rise of Islam on its ethical side may very well be
represented as a daring attempt to fight to the last extremity with the
spirit <Ajiihiliyah x to abolish it completely, and to replace it once and
for all by the spirit of hifm, Ibn Ishaq has preserved for us another

+ Ibn Ishaq— Ibn Hishim: Sfrat al-No&t, ed. F. Wtistenfeld (GJIUirigen,

i6jo-i8dd), t, jSj-jSG.

-<>

Principles of SertotHtic Analysis

pieee of interesting tradition which throws much light on this aspect
of jahiliyah.

Immediately after the occupation of Mecca in a,h. 8, MnJiammad
sent out troops into che regions surrounding the town. It was a work
of pure missionary swal ; he ordered them to invite people to Islam
Only in friendly terms. Among those sent out as missionaries was
the valiant Khalid ibn al-Walld, known by the nickname of the
'Sword of Allah', and he came to a tribe called Batiu Jadhimah.
When (he people saw him, they seized their weapons to right. Khalid
assured them of his peacefulintcntion and ordered them to lay down
their weapons, for, he said, all other people had already accepted
Islam; war was now over and everybody was safe.

But when they laid down their arms, notwithstanding the sincere
warnings of a man of the trihe, Khalid tied their hands behind their
hacks and began to behead them. The news reached Muhammad in
Mecca. Thereupon he is -said to have raised his arms so high that ' his
armpits could be seen' and cried three times, 'O God, I am innocent
before Thee of what Khalid has done V Then he ordered his son-in-
law c Ah saying, 'Go at once to the people, examine thoroughly the
affair, arid trample down the custom of Jahiliyah {If'al smr ai-
jakiiiyak tdhta qadamayka).' 'All hurried to the district with great
Sums of money and paid for all the blood and property. 5 It may be
worth remarking that a little further on in the same passage, we find
a certain person commenting on this behavior of Khalid with the
words: 'You have dime an act of Jahiliyah (;Amitia U-amr ah
jahiliyah} in the midst of Islam,'

Those two incidents give us an important hint as to what was
meant by the word jfihiliyuh at the time of Muhammad. They allow
us also tB .get a real insight into the ethical motives that underlie the
movement of Islam. It will be clear that what Tslam was aiming at in
the sphere of morality was a complete reformation of life, based on the
abolishment of the jahili practices and their replacement by certain
types of conduct arising from the spirit of hilm.

In the Arabic dictionary, Taj aI-*Arus by at-Zabnli, 6 the word
hilm is defined as 'the act of reining one's soul and holding back
one's nature from the violent emotion of anger* and in Mttkif
al-Mufili by al-Bustani 7 as 'the state of the soul remaining tranquil,
SO that anger cannot move it easily ; and its being unperturbed by any
calamity that occurs', 'the state of calm tranquility notwithstanding
the attack of anger', and 'being slow in requiring the wrong-doer',
ft should be noticed that hilm was no new discovery of Muhammad.

s Ibid., II, 834-835.

* al-Zabldj, Taj al-'AtOi (C«irf>, * h. 1306-1507), VTH, under yLM, 355-35S.

7 .il-Bustqni, Mulfif (Be-irur, 1 867-1870), 443-444.

The Method of Analysis (md lis Application

On the contrary, it was one of the most highly esteemed virtues
among the old pagan Arabs. Only it lacked a firm ground. The
genuine Arabs of the desert have always been notoriously passionate
people who may be moved to any extremes <.n\ the smallest pmvnca-
tiun. Tranquility of the soul, the p ataravia' of the Greeks, is for
them the most difficult thing to achieve, and, if achieved, to maintain
for long. In order, therefore, that hilm may become the real pivot uf
all moral life, it must be given first of all a firm basis. This was
furnished by the sincere belief in Allah, the sole Creator of the
whole world. It is to this hilm firmly grounded in monotheistic
belief, the moral reasonableness of a religiously cultured man, that
jahiliyah Stands diametrically opposed. Let u9 now turn to the
Qur'an itself to sec whether or not the examples it offers confirm this
interpretation of the word.

There are in the Qur^Sn a number of verses in which various
derivatives from the root JUL occur. The form jahiliyah appears
four times, in Surah III, 143,154, V, 5 5/50, XXX 1 1 1, 3 3, and XLVH I,
26, of which the last is perhaps the most important for our purpose.
It runs as follows:

When in the hearts of those who persist in unbelief arose the
characteristic arrogance, the arrogance of jahiliyah, then God sent
down His peace of soul upon II is Messenger and upon the believers,
and imposed upon them the formula of self-restraint, for that was
most befitting to them and they were most suited for that.

What I have translated here by the 'arrogance of jShiliyak' (hatniyat
al-jattilfyah) refers to that overbearing haughtiness of a tribal man,
the Staunch pride so characteristic of the old pagan Arabs, the spirit
of stubborn resistance against all thait shows the slightest sign of
injuring their sense of honor and destroying the traditional way of
life. It is to be remarked that this spirit of passionate resistance is
here made to contrast sharply with the calmness of soul sent down
from Heaven upon the believers, and their disposition to maintain
control over themselves in critical situations, to conquer their own
passions, and to remain tranquil and forbearing in the name of reli-
gion. From the standpoint of Islam, the jahiliyah was a blind, savage
passion which characterised those who l did not know how to dis-
tinguish between good and bad, who never asked pardon for the evil
they had done, who were deaf to the good, dumb to the truth, and
blind to Heavenly guidance.' 9 And it was this dark, blind passion
that had inspired endless blood feuds, and caused countless miseries
and disasters in the history of the pre- Islamic Arabs.

The three remaining examples of the use of the word jahiliyah

* Ibn lahati, IJ , Go;.

Principles of Sittiiiiitii Analysis

seem not so significant from the semantical point of view. They
are all used to describe some aspects of either the moral attitude
or the outward behavior of those who would not accept the mono-
theistic religion , or of those who, though Muslims on the surface,
do not really believe in God at ail and begin to waver dii the first
occasion.

I give nest some examples showing the use of two other derivative
forma of the same root; one is the participial-adjectival form jakil
(appearing mostly in the pi. form jAhilhi), and the other is the verbal
form jahila in its various forms of conjugation.

In Sfirah XI I, 33, Joseph in iSgypt, who begins to feel himself
defenceless before the onslaught of the temptation of women,
addresses God and says:

O my Lord 1 1 would sooner be cast into prison than do that which
these women urge me to do, yet if Thou turoest not from me their
temptation, 1 shall surrender myself to the surge of lust for them
and so become une of the juhilin.

This passage owes its particular interest to the fact that it is found in a
non-religious context, thus showing a purely secular use, so to speak,
oijdkii. In this contexr the word seems to mean the reckless behavior
of one who easily falls a victim to the surge of lust and makes himself
knowingly blind and deaf to the distinction between right and wrong,
behavior which is evidently the exact opposite of itiltn as explained
above.

And [remember] Lot, when he said to his people, 'flow dare you
commit such alwmination while you can see? Do you indeed
approach men with lustful desires instead of women? >iay, you
are a people whose conduct shows every sign of jaht {iajhaluaa). 1

(XXVII, S5-S6/S4-55)

Tn this passage we see the people of I-ot, that is, the people of
Sodom described as behaving in a characteristically jUkU way,
'approaching' as they do L men lustfully rather than women', which
is an 'abominable sin' fdhiihah. The semantic analysis of the latter
word will be given in. a later chapter. Here it may suffice to note that
in this example too what is primarily understood under the word
jatut is a man who goes to any extremes at the mercy of his own
passions, and that not ignorantly, 'while you can see', i.e. being
fully aware that by acting in this way he is committing an abominable
sin. This example is of particular significance in our present context
because it shows clearly that jahit has essentially nothing to do with
'ignorance' though it implies the act of ignoring wilfully the moral
rule of Jtiim,

The Method of Analysis and Its Application

We are well aware of the fact that thou [Muhammad] art grieved
to hear what thi^y are saying. Yet it is not thee that they cry Eies ti»;
the signs of God it is that they deny, these wrong-doers (falimtTi) I
Apostles before thee were also cried lies to. But, they proved
patient of being cried lies to and of being hurt, until Our help
came to them, . . . Now if it is hard for thee that they turn away
from thee, well, if thou canst seek Out a hole down into the earth,
or a ladder up into the sky, to show them [something like] a divine
sign, [attempt to do it thyself! But since a* a matter of fact thou
canst never do such a thing, it would be better for thee to remain
patient]. Had God so willed He would have Himself brought them
all to the guidance. So be thou not one of the jiihilln. (VI, 33-35)

The commentary uf al-Faydawi explains this last sentence by
paraphrasing it in this way : Be thou not one of thsjShitm by desiring
what is naturally impossible to obtain and by getting impatient

in those situations to which patience is most befitting; for that is a
characteristic act of those who Ait jtihil. It may be remarked that this
is a passage in which Allah at the same time consoles and admonishes
the Prophet, who, utterly distressed and disappointed at the stubborn
'turning away' of his folk, is beginning to take a gloomy view of the
future, God reminds him that there were many prophets before him
who suffered from the Same sort of adverse fortune and that they
endured it patiently, putting absolute confidence in Providence. And
He ends by commanding Muhammad to follow their example and
not to get impatient in vain. It will be evident, then, xhaxjahil in this
passage also means a man whose mind tends to be easily thrown into
agitation by anger, grief, desperation, or any other emotion.

Even though We should send down the angels unto them, or the
dead should speak to them, or We should gather against them
everything in array, they would never believe — unless God so
willed. After alt most of them always prove themselves to be char-
acteristically jahil (yajfialutta). (VI, 1 1 : )

In this and the following examples j&hil has something to do in an
essential way with belief-unbelief, The word, as is clear, describes
here those people who are too haughty and arrogant to 'surrender'
to the new religion whose spiritual ideal is in many important re-
spects utterly incompatible with that of the old pagan Arabs. This
of course implies that, viewed from the standpoint of Arabian
paganism itself, they are the true representatives of its spirit, and,
whatever should happen, would maintain unswerving loyalty to the
traditional tribal virtues. They arc the people who never respond to
the call of Muhammad except with sheer derision and contempt.
In the next example the policy of remaining indifferent and ' turning

Primipki of Smantic Arutfysit

away' is recognized as the ideal attitude for all pious believers to
adopt towards people of this kind. It goes without saying that in
point of fact this could not be the permanent policy of Islam towards
the infidels, but the example is of particular interest in connection
with our present problem, for it helps to bring out in a striking manner
the fundamental opposition otjahi and kibit.

When they [i.e. the pious believers] hear vain talk [i.e. what the
misbelievers say about God, prophets, and revelation] they turn
away from it saying, "We have our deeds, and you have yours.
Peace be upon you ! We have nothing to do with the jaki}ill. ,

(xxvin, 55 )

Say ; 'What ! Is it something other than God that you would have
me serve, O you jakilun) ' It has been revealed to thee as well as

to those before thee, 'If thou dost associate aught with God, thy
deed shall be lost, and thou shalt surely he in the number of those
who lose/ Nay, but God do thou serve, and be of those filled with

thankfulness. (XXXIX, 64-65)

In this example the word jakil is need to denote those addicted to
the idolatrous practices of paganism, who, not content with 'associ-
ating' other gods with Allah, even bid others to do the same. Here,

be it remarked in passing, the jakil is opposed to thakir t one who is
filled with gratitude. In discussing the problem of the semantic
category of kafir we have already remarked that in Islamic religion
belief was fundamentally and originally conceived of in terms of
gratitude for benefits received. Exactly the same use ofjShil is found
also in the following passage in which the idolatrous inclination of the
Israelites of Moses' time is described.

And We made the children of Israel pass across the sea, and they
came upon a people addicted to the worship of idols that were in
their possession. *Moses,' they said, 'prepare for us a god like the
gods they have.' He replied, ' Verily you arc a people who act in a
jahitvixy (innakum qaesm i&jhaluaa).' Vil, 1 34-136/1 38-140)

And We sent Noah to his people, ' I am obviously for you a warner
admonishing you to worship none save God. Verily I fear for you
the chastisement of a painful day.' . , . Then said the chiefs of the
people, who were kafir, *As we see-, thou art nothing more than a
mortal like ourselves. As we see, you [Noah and his followers]
have no claim to superiority over us. Nay more, we think you are
liars!' [To this Noah replies in v. 31] 'As 1 see, you are a people
who act in a. jakil way. 1 (XI, 27-29/25-27 and 31/29)

The neitt example also places a particular emphasis on the very

The Method of Analysis and Its Application

strong and tenacious nature of the resistance to the revealed religion
on the part of the jalalin.

And recall also the brother of 'Ad [i.e. the Prophet Hud] when he
warned his people in the district of winding sandhills, saying,
'Worship none save God. I fear for you the chastisement of a
painful day.' They said, 'Hast thou come in order to turn us away

from our gods? Well, then, bring us what thou dost warn us against,
if thou speakest the truth.' He said, ' No one knows the truth save
God, My task is only £0 convey to you what I am sent with. But
I see now you are a people who act in tjaltit way.' (XLVI, 20-23/
31-23)

I have mentioned earlier the 'arrogance' of heathendom (hamtyat
al-j(3sliyak) f the haughty spirit of resistance to all that threatens the
foundation of tribal life, that vehement arrogance, as Professor A, J,
Arberry has put it,' which, after having caused in earlier times
countless bloody feuds in the desert, now drove the pagan Arabs,
alike of town and desert, to the relentless persecution of Muhammad
and his followers. ITus last two quotations illustrate this phase of the
meaning inherent in the word /aft/, for 'to act inatypicallyjaAji way*
{jahilaf means this type of conduct on the part of the Kafirs,

All things considered, it will be clear by now that in the semantic
category of ja/d there is comprised the central notion of a fierce,
passionate nature which tends to get stirred up on the slightest
provocation and which may drive a man to all sorts of recklessness;
that this passion tends to manifest itself in a very peculiar way in the
arrogant sense of honor characterizing the pagan Arabs, especially
the Dedouin of the desert ; and lastly that in the specifically Qur'anic
situation the word refers to the peculiar attitude of hostility and
aggressiveness against the monotheistic belief of Islam, which was,
to the mind of most of Muhammad's contemporaries, too exacting
ethically and which, moreover, called upon them to abandon their
time-honored customs and their idols.

I have conducted a somewhat detailed semantic analysis of the
words derived froiu the root JHL for two main purposes: first, in
order to describe an important feature of the moral climate of Arabia
at the time immediately before the rise of Tslim and thus to give some
preliminary notion of the fundamental principles underlying its
moral attitude , and secondly, in order to show by a concrete example
the general characteristics of my method of analysis, I have, I believe,
made sufficiently clear that this method is a sort of contextual
interpretation. It is to be noticed that the materials gathered are not

* A. J. Atben-y, The Seven O&i (London, 1957), p. J&3.

Principle! of Semantic Asatytit

all of equal value : they differ from, one another in the degree of
contextual relevance, and consequently they must be assessed and
utilized each according to its worth.

What are the practical rules for such contextual interpretation?
In a very valuable booklet which is designed to give some 'practical
advice' for those wishing to become good translators of Classical
Latin, Professor J. Marouaeau says that the best way to clarify the
meaning of an obscure word is first and foremost 'rapprocher,
compare) 1 , mettre en rapports les termes qui sc resstmblent, qui
s'opposent, qui se correspondent'. To this he does not forget to add:
'A propos de chaquc mot Hon oompris, appclons a notre secours tout
1'ciiSeinble du passage oil il figure. 1 * This piece of 'conseil pratique ',
which may seem, at first a needless commonplace, is in. reality a very
clever resume 1 of all the essential points in the procedure of contextual
interpretation. Its tremendous importance will leap to the eye when
we amplify it by illustrations. 'To bring together, compare, and put
in relation all the terms that resemble, oppose, and correspond with
each other '■ — there can indeed be no better maxim for us to adopt in
our attempt to analyze the Quranic data.

As the maxim just quoted suggests, the mere fact of a given ethical
term appearing repeatedly in one and the same passage is not in itself
of any strategic importance for semantics. For any passage to acquire
a peculiar semantic significance, it must work as a specific context
revealing in a full light some; aspect or aspects of the semantic category
of a given word. In Surah XXXV, 37/39, for example, the root .07?
appears six times in succession. As. the fundamental semantic
structure of the root is quite clear now, I see no harm in translating
it provisionally and for convenience of style by the English word
'disbelief. The passage runs as follows;

Who so disbelieves (kafar-a), his disbelief (kufr) shall be on his
own head. Their disbelief {kufr] will only serve to increase for the
disbelievers {kafir) abhorrence in the sight of their Lord. Their

disbelief (kufr) will serve to increase for the disbelievers {hafir)
naught but loss.

We can see that in this passage none of the words derived from the
root KFR gives us any information worthy of notice concerning the
basic sense of KFR itself. True, this verse may further our knowledge
of the causal relationship in which the human act of kufr stands to
divine anger and chastisement. But this is the utmost we can make
out of it, and we must not forget that for any reader of the Qur'an,
this point is abundantly clear even without the aid of this example,
a fact which reduces its strategic value for semantic analysis almost

><J J. M&Kiuicau, La Tnxdactwm du latin (Paris, n.d.J, p, 38.

The Method of A nalysis and Its Application

to nullity. When, in the following chapters, I try to analyze the key
ethico-religioirs terms of the Qur*3n 3 1 shall intentionally leave out all
examples of the kind just described.

There are, roughly speaking, seven Cases in which any passage
clearly assumes a strategic importance for the method of semantic
analysis.

t. The simplest case in which a passage is semantically relevant
occurs when the precise meaning of a word is elucidated concretely
in its contest by means of verbal description. This is what may best
be termed 'contextual definition'. A very good case in point is fur-
nished by the following example. It is found in Surah II, 173/177,
and the word in question is birr, which is translated in English
sometimes by 'piety 1 , sometimes by 'righteousness'.

The birr does not consist in your turning your faces towards the
East or the West, but [true] birr is this, that one believes in God,
and the Last Day, and the angels, and the Scripture, and the
prophets; that one gives one's own wealth, howsoever cherished
it may be, to kinsfolk, orphans, the needy, the wayfarer, and
beggars, and also for the sake of [the liberation of] slaves; that one
performs the ritual prayer, pays the alms p,t the poor-rate].
And those who keep their covenant when they have once coven-
anted and are patient in distress and hardship: these arc they who
are sincere [alfadhina tadaqu); these are they who are godfearing
[mutlaqSn),

The passage declares most emphatically that birr — 'piety' we might

roughly say — in the true sense does not consist in observing out-
wardly the rules vf religious formalism, but is that kind of social
righteousness that naturally arises from a deep monotheistic
faith in God. It is to be remarked also that in the last sentence of this
verse, the concept of twr is explicitly put in a close relationship
with the concept of sidq 'sincerity'' in belief and that of taqssd
'pious fear of God'. The problem of birr itself will come up for
further consideration at a later stage. Here it is sufficient to draw
attention to the significance of this kind of example from the point
of view of our method of analysis.

2, We may note the particular value of Synonyms for the purpose of
analysis. When a word X is substituted for a word Y in the Bame
passage or in exactly the same kind of verbal contest, whether its
range of application he wider or narrower than that of Y, the substi-
tution is helpful to us in in%'estigating the semantic category of either
word. See, for example, Surah VII, 93-93/94-95:

We [God] have not sent any prophet unto any town but We seized
the people thereof with distress {ba'sd*) and adversity (darrtf),

Principles of Semantic Analysis

that haply they might grow humble (v. 92). Then did We change
evil (sayyfah) for good (ttatattah) so that they increased in. number,
and said, 'adversity (darra') and happiness (sarra') did touch our

fathers', (v. 53}

From a comparison of verse gz and verse 0,3 it will be readily seen
that the whole phrase '6aW and darra" in the former is replaced in
the latter by sayyfah without any essential charge of meaning. And
to ace this is. to know for certain that the word sayyFa^ which is
recogniaedly a near equivalent of 'evil' or 'bad', may be used in
certain contexts to convey the meaning of something like 'hardship',
'misery', or 'distress'. We observe further that this sayyPah is
contrasted in 93 with hasanah, usually meaning 'good' or 'goodness',
which is in turn replaced in the same passage by tarra', meaning
approximately 'joy 1 or 'happiness*.

Here is another example. In RQrah XH, the Chapter of Joseph
28-29, lfte Egyptian Gover nor says to his wife, who, having failed to
(tempt and seduce) young Joseph, has tried to bring him under a
false charge of an abominable act:

'This is an example of your "women's deceit; verily how prone you
are to deceit! Joseph, torn away from this. And thou, woman, ask
forgiveness of thy sin ; verily thou art of the sinners.'

The meaning conveyed by the word which T have provisionally
translated 'transgression', dhanb, reappears in the nest sentence in
another form: 'thou art a sinner', more literally, 'thou art one of the
khaffiu-'i i.e, one of those who commit or have committed a kkafVak^
a word which is usually translated as 'fault' in English, From this
we may feel justified in establishing, as far at least as this and similar
contexts, the formula of equivalence: dhavb = hftafTah. Are the two
perfect synonyms in the present context'? This is a point which wc
cannot decide at this stage. Suffice it to note that the famous com-
mentator al-BaydiwT says 11 that dhtmb is a concept standing on a
higher level than kJta}Vak and gives as the differentia of kfttlfPah
the element of intentionality. Tn other words, according to him,
JtkalVah Is a Jhanb committed wilfully and deliberately.
3. We might mention the case in which the semantic structure of a
given term is elucidated by contrast. The word khayr, for instance,
is perhaps the nearest equivalent of the English word "good 1 in the
moral sense. But there are in Arabic many other words that appear
to participate concurrently in the general connotation of goodness, of
which we have actually seen one in the preceding section— hascmah.
The difference between khayr and hasanah will be made dear to a

11 al-Bay^Awi, Anwar at-wTtmzll aarAirfir al-Ta'u'U (Cairo, 1939), ad lot*,
38

Tkt Method of Analysis and Its Application

considerable extent by the knowledge that khayr is generally used in
Opposition to sharr whereas hasanak is opposed to sayyfeh. If we
can ascertain the precise meaning of any one of the four terms,
we shall become surer also about the meaning of the remaining
three.

Sometimes wc find two different words standing in opposition to a
third term. Thus hiifir, whose basic meaning I have explained earlier
in this chapter, is most commonly contrasted with mupiin^ ' believer'.
But there is another word, f&siq, which is also contrasted in many
places with mtfmin. Since it is opposed to tnti'mn, and stands on the
same footing as AiJ/ir, the word fdtiy must refer to some detestable
property of a man with regard to religious matters, and presumably
a man characterized by a peculiar attitude of enmity towards God.
If that is right or wrong we shall see in a later chapter. Here I shall
content myself with remarking that in al-Daydawi's opinion fdsiq is
substantially the same as kdfhn, only, fasiq is a particularly obstinate
type of kafir {mutamurrid fl al-htfr). Wc may also note that in post-
Qur'anic times this word becomes a technical term designating an
independent class that stands between rmfmn and kafir, "a mu'mtt
who has committed a grave sin less than that of shirk "associating",
i.e. polytheism'.

4. As a special sub-class of the last group I should like to mention
the case in which the semantic structure of an obscure word X is
cleared up in terms of its negative form, tufaX. The attempt, it may
be argued, is mostly doomed to failure, since not-X may logically be
anything whatsoever outside X. Fortunately, however, this does not
apply to those cases where the field of reference is narrowly limited)
that is, where the number of the possible referents is not very great.
When the topic for discussion is a kind of flower which can be either
red or bine, the very fact of being told that a particular specimen is
not-red is enough to give the hearer much positive information about
it. And this is almost alwavs true of moral vocabulary in any language.
In point of fact, tn the limited field of reference of moral evaluation,
knowledge about not-X tends to prove a very effective means in
determining the semantic category of X itself. To know what types
of conduct are generally referred to hy the expression 'This is not
good', is as important for the semanticiet as to know what types of
conduct are generally called 'good*.

The verb istakhara is one of the most important terms of negative
evaluation in the Qur'an, Roughly it means 'to be big with pride',
'to art haughtily and scornfully 1 , and is used to refer to a character-
istic feature of the kafir. In the following example this verb appears in
its negative form and describes from behind, so to speak, the conduct
of one who behaves ' haughtily*,

Frwdples of Semantic Analysis

Only those believe in Our signs [i.e. revelations], who, when they

are reminded of them, fall down prostrate and celebrate loudly
the praise of their Lord, never getting puffed up with pride.
(XXXII, i 5 )

What line of conduct do * those who are not haughty' adopt; I low do
they actually behave when they find themsel% r es face to face with
divine signs? To know something positive and concrete about this
is to know many things about the nature of that special kind of
haughtiness which is designated by the word istakbara.

5, We call a 'semantic field 1 any set of patterned semantic relations
between certain words of a language. A very simple example of this
13 provided in English by the peculiar relationship holding between
'wind' and 'to blow \ In every language we encounter such semantic
'clusters' of words. A word rarely stands aloof from others and
maintains its existence all alone; on the contrary, words manifest
everywhere a very marked tendency to combine with certain others
in the contexts of occurrence, Every word has, as it were, its own
choice of companions, so much so that tlte entire vocabulary of a
language forms an extremely tangled web of semantic groupings. To
disentangle it constitutes One of the important tasks of a scmanticist.
So, from his standpoint, any passage is semantically significant that
contributes in some way or other towards determining the bounds
of a field of meaning. Thus in the Qur'an the verb iftttrd ( H to invent',
'to forge h ) most frequently takes as it* grammatical 'object' the noun
kadhib (a 'lie'), thus forming a well-nigh inseparable group. To join
this group comes the word $$iim, whose basic meaning I have dis-
cussed earlier. In fact the expression 'Who does more wrflng, or
who is more unjust, (<t$fam), than he who forges {iftard) against God
a lie {kadftib)V is one of the set phrases of our Scripture, This makes
it clear that the three words iftard-kmthib-^diim form in the Qur'an
a peculiar group or combination, a semantic field in the sense just
explained.

6. Very often the rhetorical device of parallelism reveals the existence
of a semantic relationship between two or more words. Tt is widely
known that in Biblical Hebrew and even more in Classical Chinese,
parallelism in poetic style furnishes not infrequently the key to the
meanings of many words which would otherwise remain obscure.
This is not the case to the same degree in che Qur'an. And yet there
are a number of passages where parallelism helps to bring out a
particular aspect of some semantic field. In Sarah XXIX, for
instance, we see the following two sentences appearing side by side:

And none denies Our signs save the hafir. (v, 40/47)
And none denies Our signs save the $Hh'm r (v, 48/49)

4°

The Method of Analysis and Its Application

The parallelism of construction ia in itself a clear proof of the fact
that kafir ('disbeliever') and zfilim ( 4 wrong-doer') arc semantic
equals in so far at least as the act of refusing to believe in divine signs
is concerned. To this group of k&fir and splint we may add one more
member, fasiq, if we note another instance of parallelism which is
found in Surah V.

Whoso judges not by what God has sent down : such are kafirim.

(v, 45/44)
Whoso judges not by what God has sent down : such are zalimun.

{■"■ 49/45)
Whoso judges not by what God has sent down: such $st f&siqtitt.

(J- 51/47)

Here the three words k&fir, palim, and fthiq are put semantically on a
par with one another in respect to not giving judgment according to
what God has revealed. Thus it will be evident that these words
define a specific phase of a wider semantic field, that of 'unbelief,
whose fundamental features will occupy us in a later chapter.
7, As one might expect, the key ethical terms in the Qur'an are
generally used in contexts of deep religious import. Sometimes,
however, we find them used, even within the bounds of the Qur'an,
in non-religious contexts which reveal the purely secular aspects of
their meanings. These cases naturally furnish the semanticist with
extremely valuable material for advancing his Studies of the structure
of the word* concerned. In point of fact we have already seen, an
example of this in the word jdhiL 1 ^ Generally speaking Surah XII,
the 'Chapter of Joseph ', is semantically of particular interest in that
it provides us with many good examples of this kind of secular use of
words. I shall give here another example from another Surah. The
word in question is k&fir.

And he said, 'Did we not bring thee up amongst us as a child?
And didst thou not dwell amongst us for many years of thy life?
And yet thou didst do the deed which thou didst. Thou art of the
ungrateful {kdjirin).' (XXVI, 17-18^8-19)

This is said by Pharaoh to Moses in a patently non-religious contest
of meaning, when the latter has slain an Egyptian subject of the
former, Nothing indeed throws such a clear light on the basic ele-
ment of 'ingratitude*, which, as we saw earlier, constitutes the ori-
ginal semantic core of the root KFR.

1J Set the first example tatan from Huj-bIi XII, p. 32.

V-

FROM TRIBAL CODE TO 1SLAMTC ETHICS

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IIL The Pessimistic
Conception of the
Earthly Life

Perhjups the most conspicuous feature of the development of
moral ideas in ancient Arabia, is that Islam proclaimed a new morality
entirely based on the absolute Will of God, whilst the guiding
principle of the pre-Islamic moral life had been tribal tradition, or
'the custom of our forefathers '.

There should be no misunderstanding here. We would be doing
gross injustice to the pre- Islamic Arabs if we maintained that there
was among them no distinction between right and wrong, between
what is good and what is bad. On the contrary, a careful perusal of a
document such as the famous 'Book of Songs', Kitab ai-Aghwtl,
will at one* convince us that the pagan Arabs were in reality richly
endowed with an acute sense of morality. Even the so-called 'free
children of the desert' had their own meticulous rules of conduct,
by the standard of which any action, whether personal or tribal,
could be judged to be right or wrong, good or bad. Only their * good '
and 'bad', 'right' and 'wrong' lacked a consistent, theoretical basis.
They could hardly be justified except by what is reducible to a useless
tautology of the type 'X is good because it is good 1 . Besides, these
ethical properties were as a matter of actual fact often quite powerless
to regulate the conduct of men in time of crisis when tribal interest

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

was at stake, as the well-known maxim of the desert shows: 'Help
your brother [i.e. fellow-tribesman] whether he is being wronged or
Wronging others.*

ITie only form of argument the pagan Arabs could use, and in fact
were willing to uee in ethical matters, was; X h good (or light)
because we found our father* and forefathers doing it.

When it is said to them [i.e. the pagans], * Follow that which God
has sent', they reply, 'Nay, we will follow what we found our
ancestors doing,' Whatj even if their ancestors were all ignorant
folk erring away from the true path? (II, i6jf/i Jo)

They [i.e. pagans] argue, 'Lu! we found our ancestors holding
fast to a certain form of religion, and we are guided by their
footprints.' Just in the same way We never sent before thee
[Muhammad] any warner to any city, but that the people thereof
who lived in luxury said, 'We found our ancestors holding fast
to a certain form of religioo, and we are following their footprints.'
Aak them, 'What, even if I bring you what will give you better
guidance than that you found your ancestors clinging to?' But they
will only say, ' Nay, we in what you were sent with do disbelieve !'
(XLIII, 2i-Z3/siv-Z4)

This type of argument naturally implies on its negative side that
everything is had (or wrong) in their eyes, which would involve any
break with the existing social order, or which would shake and
damage in however slight a manner the prestige of customs inherited
from their tribal ancestors. And such was precisely the nature of the
moral reform which Islam inaugurated, The principle of morality
which its Prophet so energetically championed had its origin in his
glowing belief in the one and only God, in Whose eye all the Custom*
and traditions of the tribes could never he anything more than
insignificant worldly affairs having nothing 'sacred' about them, It
was only natural that this led Islam to a radical break with the funda-
mental assumptions underlying all the moral ideas of the pagan Arabs.
From among the various Features that characterize the spirit of
the age of Jahsliyah, I would like to draw attention to the two follow-
ing as being of particular relevance : its worldliness and its tribalism.
The first of these will form the subject of the present chapter. The
principle of tribalism will be dealt with in the following chapter,

The sober realism characterizing in a very peculiar way the Bedouin
world-view is now wclI*koown among those who are interested in the
nature of Arab culture. It seems to be connected most intimately

The Ptiiimiitic Cfsttttptivrt of the Eortftfy Lift

with the climate of the land Indeed, it has something which evokes
in our minds the arid sands of the desert. At all events it is a fact
that lack of imagination has stamped its mark on almost everything
that may be recognized as purely Arabic. To the realistic Arab mind
this present world with its myriad colors and forms is the only world
that exists. Nothing is more remote from such a mind than a belief
in eternal life, the life to come. There can be no existence beyond the
limits of this world.

They assert, ' There is our life in this present world ; we die, we

live, and naught destroys us but Time {Dahr).' (XLV, 23/24)

They assert, 'There is only our life in this present world; we shall
never be raised." (VI, 29)

Here the monotheism of Islam came inevitably into serious conflict
with the old pagan conception of existence. The divine message the
Prophet brought to his countrymen about the resurrection and the
world to come provoked everywhere scorn and derision.

They say, * What, when we are dead and have become dust and
bones, shall we then possibly be raised? A promise like this we
and our ancestors have been given before. These are all merely

fantastic old tales/ (XXIII, 84-85/81-83)

'Ine Kafirs say, 'This is indeed a wondrous thing! What? when
we are dead and have become dust? That would indeed be a long
way to return !' (L s 2- 3)

The Kafirs say, ' Hey ! Shall we show you a strange fellow who will
assure you that, after you have been utterly torn to pieces, you
shall then be created anew?' (XXXIV, 7)

To be Sure, even the pagan Bedouin knew and made much use of (he
Word khnliid, meaning 'a long life, 1 so long indeed that it will never
come to an end' (i.e. eternal existence), but their all too realistic
minds Could hardly go beyond the horizon of the immediately present;
in other words, khulud should be something of this world, The

1 To be more cstact, tno Mensih' of this L runst life' mutt be Mfetrt in A relative
ietiae, varying frtwi caw ty cj«- In thjc following verac it the JHhiJl poet 'Abfd b.
sl-Abras {Dfmtiit, cd. ifc tracts. Ch. L,ysi] (Liiden, !j]i), jxiem XLVIl h v. 9), for
Ifiiiicic*, the sinitc verb kholada is used twice in juoces&Jon: in the first case u
means 'to live Ion?" than others ' 'to remain alive after Atbcta sr* gftn*-', and in UK
second "to live fat evtT*.

Fa-khaladtu ha'tiohum tva-lailu tsi-khd!id 1
Fa-alr&ihr Jkij glfiy^ vm-tSm ohvon,

Thua T remain sifter them (i.e. after they have died], hut I myself lffinoiio
live forever, for 'i'ime ra ever full of vicissitudes and ehJtnjjes.

From Tribal Code to Isfetnk Ethict

'eternity* of which there is much talk in pre- Islamic poetry, and
which undoubtedly constituted fine of the most serums human
problems among the pagan Arabs just before the rise of Islam,
meant primarily an eternal life on this very earth, A glance at the
literary works they left makes it abundantly clear that they were
aware that all the treasures amassed and all deeds done would be
ultimately meaningless and vain if there could not be found something
which would confer immortality to the whole life of this world. Some
such principle of immortality, mukkSid (lit, art ' eternali^cr '), they
sought for everywhere. But it was, of course, so much laboi lost.
With biting sarcasm the Qur'an speaks of * everyone . . , who gathers
wealth and counts it over as if his wealth could "eternalize" him',
(CIV, 1-3) arid the poet al-A ; sha says 'Never, never think that riches
Can make their possessor immortal,*

It is interesting to notice that in TahUi literature the idea that wealth
is the most important thing in the world, that it is the 'eternaltzer*
is presented by women, usually wives, while men hold such a *hase
and silly' idea in scorn and simply ignore it, for it goes against the
ethical principle of hartm ' generosity'. The wife of the famous poet
al-Mukhabbal reproaches her husband for his spendthrift habits
and says:

Irma al-thard* kuwa al-khuiud ws-f *

-Tata at-mar 11 yttqribu yawtnahu al-'adam

Yerily wealth means kkulad, and Jack of wealth brings near to him
his day, i.e. death.

To this the poet replies;

Iitni wa-jaddiki ma tukhallidum *
mi'at yafiru Hfffuha udm

By my truth, never shall I be made to live eternally by a hundred
fat camels whose hair is carried away by the wind. 2

It is important to remark also that this bitter consciousness of the
absolute impossibility of finding 'eternity' in this world was at once
the dead end into which heathenism drove itself and the very starting
point from which Islam took its ascending course, Indeed, Jahiliyah.
and Islam unite in the recognition of the evanescence of human life.
The pessimism arising from the consciousness of the essential vanity
of life is common to both pre-Islamic poetry and the Sacred Book.
Every reader of the Qur'an knows that this is a theme of incessant
recurrence,

i Mufa4^J, toitfa44etf¥& C«in» s 1*41), p«(n XXI, 3*-J7,
48

The Pesiitttiitic Conception of the Earthly Life

The life of this present world m naught but a play and a pastime.
(XLVII, 38/36)

Know that the life of this present world is naught but a play and
pastime, an outward show, and vainglory among you, and a rivalry
in wealth and children. All this is like vegetation after rain, whose
growth rejoices the kapr\ then it withers away and thou seest it
become sere and yellow \ then it becomes straw, , . , Thus the life
of this world is but an illusion of joy. (LVII, 19-40/20)

This pessimistic conception of the earthly life, it would seem, has
nothing in itself to differentiate it from that expressed by the
poets. Throughout pre-Islamic poetry there runs a dark nute of
pessimism. It is, we might sav, the natural basic mood of the liter-
ature of Jahiliyah. The works of the great pre-Islamic poets invariably
resound with bitter cries of despair at the emptiness of human life.
Thus, to give one example, c Abid b. al-Abras says:

I pondered on thoughts of my people, the kind ones who dwelt at
Maihub, and my heart was sore for them, overwhelmed with
sorrow ;

And as remembrance filled me, the tears streamed ceaselessly like
a water-runnel watering the seed-plots of one who has Come to
decay.

Yea, many the tent from whose chambers the scent of musk floated
forth have 1 entered, mayhap in secret, mayhap as an open wooer;

And many the songstress whose toms the wine had rendered
hoarse, who sings to the strings stretched over a hollow curved
lyre,

Have I listened to with companions, all men of noble race, who
count themselves bound without stint to all seeking help.

And now all these things are gone, and I am left to mourn — nay,
what man on earth is there whose hopes are never belied?

Thou seest a man ever yearn and pine for length of life: but what
is long life's sum but a burden of grief and pain? 1

In the first poem of the DTwan the same old poet, after giving a
detailed picture of the desolation that has spread over the place of
his youthful memories, goes on to moralise on the vanity of all
earthly things'* and concludes: 'All that is pleasant must be snatched

3 =Ahid b, il-Abruj, fX. 31.

* Ibid., p. rg.

From Tribal Code to Mamie Ethies

away, and every one that gathers spoil is spoiled in turn* (v, 14);
'Man as long as he lives is a self-deceiver: length of lift is but increase
of trouble/ (v. 24)

Thus in the recognition of the vanity, emptiness, and ephemerality
of life Islam and Jahillyah evidently stand on a common ground.
And yet the conclusions, they draw from this are poles apart, For
Jahillyah did not and would not know anything beyond the world of
present existence, whereas Islam was a religion that was precisely
founded on a glowing belief in the life to come-. The pivotal point of
Muhammad's message lies decidedly in the hereafter. And once we
recognise, and believe in T the existence of the world to come, failure
in the attempt at seeking out khstlud, ' eternity \ in this world need
no longer drive us into the depths of despair. So the kkulud which
presented such an awful, insoluble problem to the men of Jahiliyah,
is now transposed without any difficulty to a sphere that lies beyond
the horizon of existence.

Nay, but you prefer the life of the present world, when in reality
the world to come is far superior and everlasting. (LXXXVII,
16-17)

You desire the perishable goods of the present world, while God
desires [for you] the Hereafter. (Vlil, 68/67)

Wealth and children arc but an adornment of the present world.
The good deeds that remain for ever are better in the sight of thy
I»rd for reward and better in respect of hope. (XVIII, 44/46)

This world is transitory and vain, Islam teaches, and so you must
never count upon it; if you really desire to obtain immortality and
enjoy eternal bliss you should make the principle of uther-worldlincsB
the very basis of your life. All is vain in this world, Jahillyah preaches,
and nothing is to be found beyond it, so you must enjoy your ephe-
meral life to the utmost limit of its capacity. Hedonism is the only
possible conclusion for the worldly-minded people of jahiliyah.

The following two verses from the famous Ode of Tarafah reveal
better than anything else the relation between their consciousness
of the impossibility of binding khul&d in this world and the principle
of hedonism.

Well now, thou who censurest nae because I attend the turmoils of
war and because I cease not to pursue pleasures, canst thou then
'eternalize' [mukhiii} my existence? But since thou art unable to
defend me from death, pray allow me to forestall It with what
wealth I possess. 5

5 Tar-afnh, MtfatttHwfi, vy, 56-57, in Stpitm Mwritoferf, cd, Aup, Arnold
(L*ipzLg, i8jo).

The Pessimistic Conception of the Earthly Life

Pre- Islamic poetry is studded with hymns of voluptuous pleasures
and enjoyments. In another passage (46-51) of the Ode Tar&f&h fi &ys :

Seek me in the assembly of my people, and you will find me there.
Hunt me in the taverns, and you will surely capture me there.

Come to mc in early morning, I shall hi! you a cup of wine to the
brim. If you decline, then decline as you like and be of good cheer.

My boon companions arc youths white as stars. And at eventide a

singing-girl comes to us in robes striped and saffron-colored.

Wide is the opening at her bosoms, delicately soft her nakedness
when the fingers of my companions touch it and caress.

When we say, 'Pray let us hear a song', she begins gently to sing,
with a voluptuous languid ness, in a voice subdued.

The passage just quoted refers to the habit of winebibbing, which
was for the men of Jahillyah a source of highest pleasure. Nothing
shows better to what extent the principle of carpe diem was exercising
an active influence on the moral phase of the Jahili life. Wine was in
their eyes one of the supreme gifts of fortune. The men of Jahillyah
were mostly winebibbers; they indulged in it habitually; they made
it even their real boast and a point of honor to be able to indulge
themselves freely with wine, for that was considered an unmistakable
evidence of a. 'generous nature ', which constituted one of the personal
virtues most highly prized by the Arabs in the days of paganism.

I am a kaiim ('man of a noble nature'], one who remains soaked
in drink all his life. If we die tomorrow you will know which of
us is the thirsty fellow.*

Great was the number of those who ruined themselves by dissipation
on account of wine, for, as ^Abid says in one of his poems (VIII, 3).
' High was the price of wine, and great was the gain of the merchants.'
In another poem he also says;

We bid up the price of all old wine,

strong and fragrant, while we are sober ;
And we hold of no account, in pursuit of its delights,

the mass of our inherited wealth, when we are drunken. 7

And Labid b, Rabi'ah, another famous poet of Jahillyah who lived
long enough to die as a Muslim, had chanted in his springtide days

* T^rnf ah, v. 63 .

t [Ab jd b, al-Abn*, VU, [7-1*,

-S 1

Prom Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

the praises of the delight of wine-drinking. Here is a passage from his
great Ode, in which he addresses hie sweetheart Nawar:

Ah, thou hast no idea how many serene nights of joyous merry-
making and mirthful cheer

I have passed in convivial gatherings; how I have frequented the
hoisted flag of the wine-merchant when the price of wine was
dear:

How I purchase wine at a high price in sitin bags old and black,
or, sometimes, in jugs smeared with pitch, whose seals I break;

How I take pleasure in quaffing pure wine in the mom, holding
close a girl while her nimble fingers touch the strings of her
lute;

How often I rise before the cock to take my own morning draught
and to take a second draught when the sleepers do awake. 8

Tarafah, to whom reference has been repeatedly made, was a
representative man of this rype h In vv. 53-54 of his Ode, he describes

tin- Iwplres fii'e whit:i buy put an «;d to all his enjoyments:

Thus I went on drinking wine, and pursuing the pleasures of life,
selling, dissipating both my own earnings and my patrimony,

Until at last the whole tribe deserted me, and here I am left all
alone like a dirty mangy camel.

According to an old tradition, the famous poet al-ASha set out
for Muhammad with a firm intention of hecoming 9. Muslim. On his
way a pagan friend met him and asked him what was the matter.
The poet (old him that he was going to the Prophet to accept Islam.
On being told that Islam prohibited fornication, he declared that it
did not matter to him at all. When, however, his friend said, ' Ah,
but do you know that Muhammad prohibits wine?' he said, ' That is a
thing I cannot give up so easily. Well, in that case I will gn hack and
drink heavily for a whole year and after that return and accept
Islam/ So he went, and died in the very year, so that he never came
back to the Prophet, 5

It was precisely in the midst of such a thoughtless generation that
Muhammad arose to proclaim the new belief in the future life and the
final judgment. He saw around him nothing but levity, worldliness,
and pleasure-seeking.

They only pursue pleasures of the life of this present world, when,
in reality, the whole iife of this world is naught but transient
enjoyment compared with the future life. (XI II, 26)

> Labld, jtfirtjflajoft, vv. 57-61 , in Stptem Mwltekiti,

The Pessimistic Conception of ike Earthly Life

The life of this world is naught but a play aod a pastime; surely
the next abode is better far for those wkc are godfearing. What,
have you then no sense ? {VI, 32)

For the godless and frivolous generation whom this world's life has
completely deceived, it is, on the contrary, religion that is but a play
and pastime (VI, 60/70, VII, 49/51). The determining mood of the
spiritual situation of Jahiiiyah is, from the point of view of the Qur'an,
that of jollity and complete indifference to the serious matters of
religion. At these careless people who are now laughing, jesting, and
playing, the Apostle of God throws the 'good ridings' of the
approaching torments of Hell. The calamitous Day of Judgment is
threateningly near. And on that day the godless will have to pay
dear for their thoughtlessness in this world.

On the day when those who disbelieve [KFR) shall be exposed to
the Fire [of Hell]r 'You squandered your good things in your
earthly life and found enjoyment in them. Wherefore this day you

are recompensed with a humiliating chastisement, for that you
grew arrogant in the earth without any right, and for that you
transgressed.' (XL VI, 19/20)

LoJ This is a man who once lived among his family joyfully.
Verily it never occurred to him that he should return to God.

(Lxxxrv, 13-14)

In view of this state of affairs, the basic attitude of man in this
present world should be, from the Qur'anic point of view, not the
desperate Sort of hedonism which we have just encountered amongthe
pre-Islamic Arabs, but absolute earnestness that stems out of the
keen consciousness of the approach of the Last Day. The fear of
God, a reverent awe before the I,ord of the Day of Judgment,
must act as the determining motive of all conduct of the religious
man, nay rather it must determine the whole of human existence.
The key word here is taqaid. The proof of a man's being genuinely
noble {karfm) of character and personality should not be sought in
the direction of audacity in mundane affairs. The real karim is not a
man who darts to squander impulsively and thoughtlessly all the
riches in his hand. The real karim is he who lives with great moral
eamestnesSi being ever conscious of the approaching Day of horrible
catastrophe. It is extremely significant that the Qur'an in one of its
most important verses defines the word karim in terms of the concept
of taqzed 'pious fear of God 1 .

Surely the noblest [akram, the superlative form of ftar&t] of you
all in the sight of God is the one who is most godfearing [atqd, the

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

superlative of taqi meaning 'god-fearing'] among you. Verily
God knows everything. He ia aware of everything, (XLIXj 13)

We can hardly overemphasise the revolutionary nature of this
attempt to re-evaluate scmaiitically an old moral -word. Already in the
day of Jahiliyah karlm was one of the highest value-words, meaning
roughly both nobility of birth and generosity. But no one before
Islam could have thought of defining 'nobility' in terms of 'fear of
God',

Of course it should be kept in mind that this emotion of 'fear'
meant in this case far more than being afraid of punishment. As Tor
Andrae pointed out years ago 10 , the deep cthioo-religious value of
the fear of God, the Lord of the Day of Judgment, is largely due to
the fact that it cannot but arouse in the mind of the believer a clear
consciousness of the tremendous seriousness of life and thus incite
him to moral earnestness and responsibility. Act always as if you
were standing at this very moment before the Divine Judge, before
the judgment seat of Allah on the Day of the great reckoning — this
was the first of the cardinal rules of conduct which Islam laid down
in the earliest period of Its development, 11 But all this would be utterly
impossible and absurd where there was no faith in the world 10 come.
Fear of God could only become a principle of ethics on the basis of a
monotheistic belief in which God is represented as the Lord of the
Judgment Day,

'* Ten Andnw, Moksmmsd, wrt Lebm amf ttiit GUnitt (Gartinpm, 193*1,
Chapter III,

11 To/fad in this sex&t becomes in the ptKt-Our'anic period the central theme of
the early laceu'e*. Haian liI >!,:■• n is- one of the outstanding examples of this attitude,
For details see It Hirter, 'Studttn mr Ceschedite d*r klamisehef] FnOmmigkeic,
1', Der Mam, XXI (1933), 1-83.

IV, The Spirit of
Tribal Solidarity

We shall turn next to the problem of tribalism. It is a common-
place to say that the social structure of pre- Islamic Arabia was es-
sentially tribah It has often been pointed out by various writers on
Arabia that the lifcblood of pagan ethics was the feeling of solidarity
existing between all the members of the tribe. The tribe s or its
subclass, the clan, was for the pre-Islamic Arabs not only the sole
unit and basis of social life but represented first and foremost the
highest principle of conduct, evolving a comprehensive pattern for
the whole of life, both individual and public Tribal spirit was no
doubt the fountainhead of all cardinal moral ideas on which Arab
society was built. To respect the bond of kinship by blood more than
anything else in the world, and to act for the glory of the tribe, this
was by common consent a sacred duty imposed on every man, that is,
every individual member of the group.

Nothing expresses hetter and more tersely the deep, irrational
nature of this sentiment of tribal connection than a verse of Durayd
b. al-Siminah which Nicholson cites : 'I am of Ghaziyya: if she be in
error, then I will err; And if Ghaziyya be guided right, I go right
with herl h ' This illustrates remarkably well how tribal solidarity

1 Nietolson, p. S3.

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethia

dictated the actions of the heathen Arab, and how he had to obey
through foul and fair the categorical imperative of tribalism. As
R. Doxy remarked, 'this limitless and unshakable attachment, which
js called 'afabiyah, that a pagan Arab feels for his fellow-tribesmen,
this absolute devotion to the interests, prosperity, glory, and honor
of the community into which he was bom and in -which he will die—
this is not in any way a sentiment like our patriotism, which would
appear to a fiery Bedouin too lukewarm* It is a violent and terrible
passion- It is at the same time the first and most sacred duty of all
duties; it is the real religion of the desert,' 3 Even if there is some
exaggeration in this last statement, yet it remains true that \i-sabiyaJi
was incomparably stronger and more influential than the pagan
religion of the desert, which never rose above the level of primitive
polydaemonisni and which, by the time of Muhammad, was showing
signs of degenerating more and more into sheer magic

Of course, as a matter of actual fact, this rule of tribal solidarity, as
every other rule of conduct, was sometimes transgressed. Sporadically
there appeared, even in the desert, persons whose individuality was
too strong and too marked to remain always loyal to the tribal cause.
Such a person naturally tended to produce trouble by his reckless
deeds inside and outside the tribe and might even involve his tribal
'brothers 1 ' in the bloodiest kind of warfare, for in pagan days a man's
whole tribe or clan had to assume the responsibility for his disgraceful
doings.. In such a ease the only way open to the tribe for evading all
responsibility for him i* to proclaim him as having been formally
disowned, whereby he becomes an 'outlaw' (khali). The whole
procedure was known under the name of tobumffi A large num-
ber of such homeless outlaws, known as sefalik (sg, su ink), appear to
have been roaming the desert in the days of Jahillyah, some of
them quite abject, base, and humiliated, but some others men of
remarkable valor and dignity, a real embodiment of the spirit of
independence.

Here is a song of such vagabondage, a poem by c Urwah b. Ward
al-'AbsT, himself one of the most outstanding figures in the history
of Arab outcasts (fefdRk), He describes in this famous poem the two
types of fefUlik which I have just mentioned.

2 Uistairt da Musulmans d"Eipagjsr t and ea\, ed. E. Lcvi-Provencal (Leiden,

s From the verb wbarrffa 'to declare oneself fcorF from Bomebodj' or something'.
Butt' means 'completely f-ree from somethinp undesirable, and having nothing
Kj du with it-'- It is ft[tt*melj r {nter«SiiTi][; to observe tfwt this u!*l w*>rd, v-i chxrHcter-
iatic of the pigan tribal life, was later in the Islamic age fumed into a terluiical
term in theology meaning something lite ' excommunication ' front the Muslim
community. The first theologian* in Islam, the Krurwinj, greatly abused this notion
and 'declared themselves free' fcom the majority of Muslims, i-«- declared the latter
to be Kafirs.

The Spirit of Tribal SoMariiy

God's curse on the poor vagabond w ho under Cover of flight
roams about slaughter-places in search of heads of bones*
At eventide he lies down exhausted, to awake the morrow still
drowsy,
shaking off wearily the gravel from his side covered with dust,
But the real sifluk is this: the breadth of his face glows

like the flame of a shooting star blazing in the darkness,
Towering over the neighborhood, striding his enemies with
horror.
All people curse him between the tents, as losers curse their
unlucky lot.
Even when they live far from his haunts, they never relax their
guard
against his corning nigh, as a family looking out for one whom
they love, 4

If we can judge from the poets, it even happened not infrequently
that actual experience taught the Arabs a better wisdom. Often, says
a poet, the roaming stranger {msik) proves a near friend, and the
nearest kinsman is cut off to become a stranger, 5

But taken all in alt, these cases were all anomalies and were cer-
tainly in a small minority, And the life of these homeless outlaws Was,
as might be expected in desert conditions, always on the brink of
death either from natural causes or by the hand of the human enemy.
For it is almost a commonplace that, without a high degree of soli-
darity, there can be hardly any hope of facing with success the fierce
struggle for survival under the climatic and social conditions of the
desert. Kvcn those strangers- who were formally adopted among a
tribe, and who consequently were in a position far better than that of
outlaws, were often hard put to it only because they were 'outsiders '.
Such an adopted member of the tribe was called zantm. It is extremely
significant in this connection that this word developed a very marked
secondary meaning of 'base', 'ignoble ', and a 'a man of evil char-
acter*. So much so that Ibr Ish&q feels himself obliged to make a
particular remark, concerning a passage from the Quran (I .XVI 1 1,
10-13) where this word occurs, to the effect that zanim here is not
used in the sense of 3 man of ignuble birth {H-'ayb fi nasabihi),
because it is not for C3od to insult the pedigree of anyone, but it is
used in its original sense of a stranger adopted by a tribe. As a pagan
poet, al-Khatim al-Tairnml, said a samm was a useless, superfluous
addition to the body of the tribe, and anyone who dared to exhibit

* In Aba Tdittnim's ffairtfftah, with oomm. of al-Kfciifli il-TibnTssi (Bulaq,

A, II. 1196}, I, 3Ifl-SIO,
= -Ahld b. il Abrsjj, I, **.

From Tribal Code u> hUmU Eihkt

preference for such an ' addition 1 over his kinsmen by blood was sure
to arouse a storm of reproach. It was for exactly the same reason that
those of the Arab tribes in Medina, who fervently took the side of
Muhammad incurred stinging reproaches from the opposite camp.
This feeling of indignation has found a genuine expression in the
following verses of "Asm! b. Marwan :

how I despise you, sons of Malik and an-Nablt,
and you, tribes of c Awr~ and sons of Khazraj I

You have obeyed an outsider coming from afar,
belonging not to Murad nor to Madhhij I s

Thus the social structure of JahiHyah was essentially tribal in the
sense that the ideal of the tribe was the Alpha and Omega of human
existence. The bond of kinship by blood, the burning sense of honor
based on the all-importance of blood relations, which required that a
man should take the side of his tribal brothers regardless of w hether
they were right or wrong, love of one's own tribe, bitter scorn of the
outsiders; these furnished the final yardsticks by which the people
of Jahiliyah measured personal values. There appears to have been
practically no supratribal Standard of good in pagan days.

It is of supreme importance for the right estimation of Muhammad's
religious movement to realize that it was just in such a circumstance
that he declared the definite superiority of religious relationship
over the ties of blood. His was indeed a daring attempt to establish
an entirely new community on the basis of a common faith in the
one and only God f whose members* as Professor Gustave Von
Gnincbaum has put it, were kin by faith rather than by blood.
According to Von Grunebaum, 7 the most effective factor in attracting
men to Islam was, apart from the religious truths contained in the
message of Muhammad, its ability to serve as a point of crystalliza-
tion for a novel Socio-political unity. But it had to Overcome tre-
mendous difficulties before it could begin to function as such a center
of crystallieation.

Abu Jahl, a swom enemy of the Prophet, is reported to have
described him once as ' one who more than anyone else has cut the
bond of kinship by blood and wrought that which is scandalous'.
And the tribal b»r<.l of Quraysh in Mecca, al-Harith b, Hisham said
after the battle of Badr in praise of those slain on the battlefield
fighting against Muhammad and the Muslims'

* Fhn [ah&L), J], 995.

T G, E. Von GrunsbnuiTij IsUm, Ettayt it tin fcmtre anrf Growth 0/ a Cuttwti
TradiliiTit 1st American ed, (.New York, 1561), p, 31 ■

The Spirit of Tribal Solidarity

They were slain as noble warriorSj they did not sell their tribe to

side with aliens who are no kith and kin of theirs.
But you sold your own tribe when Ghassan became your true
friends
in place of us [Quraysh] ; what a scandalous act it was!
An act of treason, a glaring crime, a cutting of the ties of

kinship |
Your injustice all men endowed with reason will perceive. 8

It is interesting to notice that politically Muhammad himself
profited to no slight extent from tlie existence of the rule of tribal
solidarity even in the city community of Mecca, particularly during
the first years of his prophetic activity For, as Professor Montgomery
Watt has pointed out,* it was largely due to the fervor of ^sainyah
shown by the powerful subdivision of Quraysh, Banu Hfehim, who
were there ready to protect him at any moment, that he could con-
tinue preaching in Mecca despite the indignation against him of the
leading circles of Quraysh, The Prophet, according to orthodox
tradition* belonged by birth to this illustrious family of Mecca,
being one of the grandsons of H&him.

And yet, Muhammad made a daring attempt to abolish the principle
of tribal solidarity and to replace it by that of monotheistic faith
which would make possible a new organization of society with a
wholly ritualised way of life as a manifestation of the eternal order
here on the earth. It is dear that this revolution — for 'revolution 1 ' it
certainly was — was prompted at first by a purely religious motive,
though as time went on the principle of kinship by faith began to
assume more and more a rich political coloring.

lie that as it may, it is a fact that Islam ordained a new type of
brotherhood based on faith between all the members of the Com-
munity and declared that henceforward this brotherhood was to be
regarded as closer and stronger than the bond of kinship by blood.
For the purpose of this study it is particularly important to remark
that the motive of this abrogation of the age-old rule of 'aidnyah may
be traced ultimately to the terrifying eschatological vision of the
Last Day. For on that day, all blood relationships that are now so
much prized, will turn utterly meaningless and useless.

But when the trumpet sound [ushering in the Judgment] shall
come, an the dav when a man shall flee from his brother, his mother,
his father, his spouse, and his sons, every man among them on
that day shall have no time to care for others, (I^XXX, 33~37)

£ Ibn T-aliBo., T, jiQ-

* w. Moflt£Q«ier? w*h, Mu)wmma4 af JVfww (Oxford, 1953)1 p, 18,

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

Thou shalt never find a people who believe in God and the Laflt
Day loving anyone who oppose God and His Apostle, even though
it be their own fathers, their sons, their brothers, or their fellow-
tribesmen. (LVIII, 22)

It is not for the Prophet and those who believe to ask pardon for
the polytheists, even though they be the nearest in blood, now that
it baa been made clear to them that these are destined far Hell,
Abraham did ask pardon for his father, but that was only because
he had to fulfil a promise he had made. So once it became clear
to him that his father was an enemy of God, he formally
declared that he had nothing to do ]0 with the iatter's acts.
(IX t 1 14-115/113-1 1 +)

Ethically, this is nothing but a proclamation of the principle of
individualism. On the Last Day, men are summoned to come to then-
Lord as individuals . Everybody has to bear his own burden, And this
begins at the very moment of his death, as c Amr b. L tJbayd said,
'Pear {ittoqi) God, for you will die alone, you will be asked to settle
accounts alone, you will be raised from the grave alone, and no one
of those who surround you now will be of any avail to you in the
presence of your Lord.' 11

However, the new principle could not displace at one stroke the
standard of tribal ethics based on the natural tie of the kindred, and
age-old tribal feuds were carried over far into the Islamic ages. We
have seen how the rival tribes of Aws and Khazraj in Medina lived
in a precarious sort of unity after they had become friends and
brothers by faith under the Prophet. And we find, Abu Qays, a
well-known ascetic who adopted Islam after Muhammad migrated to
Medina, still saying in the spirit of tribalism:

Sever not, my sons, the tits of kinship.
Be magnanimous to your kindred though they be narrow of

mind. 11

The feeling of tribal solidarity tended to control a man's actions
towards his kinsmen even when they joined the banner of his
enemy, a phenomenon that occured vejy frequently in Arabia after
the rise of Islam. Speaking of the Prophet's companions who had
fled from Mecca for refuge with the king of Abyssinia, and trying to
calm down an angry friend who was going to resort to violent

18 Tobarra'a ibi'bAu. The concept of tahann*, ha-s been explained Wilier in this
chiipter (sec nflte 3)-

n 'Ami b. 'tlbayd, a famous Mu'Cazitah, who, together with Wi^LE b. 'Ata ! . laid
the faundiiion af Mu r ti*ilisin. Tit I; reported tf> have said this when he admonished
the Khalifat at-Msnjtlr, See Sbailf al-Mujtadi, Am&i (Cairo, 1954}, 1, 175.

lz Ibn bb&q, I, 347-

Th<t Spirit of Tribal Solidarity

measures in order to 'uproot all these fellows', a 'godfearing 1 person
says, ' Don't do such a thing. They are related to us by blood even
though they are now on the opposite side. nli On the day of Uhud,
'All, who was in charge of the standard of the Muslims, and Abu
Sa'd, who carried the banner of the pagans, fought in single Combat,
and the former smote the latter down on the ground. But he refrained
from giving him the finishing stroke. When asked later why he did
not do 80, he replied, 'The bond of blood kinship it was that made
me faint-hearted at the last moment.' 1 *

So Muhammad, when he migrated to Medina, tried at first to
establish, in accordance with his newly proclaimed principle, a
supertribal unity of all believers, and declared that the Muhajirin
(i.e. those who had shared from the very beginning in his hardship
and migrated with him from Mecca) and the Ansar (i.e. those who
newly became Muslims in Medina) should regard themselves as
'brothers' in religion, and that this brotherhood should abrogate
all the ancient customs and rules of blood kinship. Believers should
be friends of believers, and disbelievers of disbelievers, regardless
of all relationships by blood and ancestry; if not, 'there would arise
in the land an irreparable moral corruption 1 . For all this, tribal
feuds were carried on before his very eyes as in pagan days, if not
of course to the same extent, an d it became clear in the course nf time
that some concessions had to be made. SCirah XXXI IT, 6, of the
Qur'an may be taken as a record of a concession of this kind.

The Prophet is closer to the believers than their selves, and his
wives are their mothers. But those who have kinship by blood are
closer to one another in the Book of God than the believers who
are not kindred and the Muhajirin. Nevertheless you have to
behave with kindness towards your companions.

The key to this passage seems to lie in the meaning of the phrase
'the Book of God". The commentators are in agreement that it
refers to the right of inheritance. If this interpretation is admitted,
then the meaning of the passage as a whole would amount to this:
those who are related by the bond of blood arc closer to one another
so far as inheritance is concerned. And this statement would naturally
place a limit upon the absoluteness of the principle of brotherhood
among all Muslims, whether they be related or unrelated by blood.
In any case, we see very often in the history of Islam old tribal interests
cutting across religious relationships.

On the other hand, Arabia in that age of transition exhibits certain
remarkable features which were Opposed to the Spirit of conservative

■ 3 /fiy., I, mo.

H Ibid,, [[, 547, according to Ibn Hisham,

From Tribal Code 10 Islamt Ethics

tribalism. There were, about the time of Muhammad, clear signs of
a weakening of the tribal or clan kinship and a growing tendency to
a certain individualism. Professor Watt ls has remarked that the
growing awareness of the problem of personal immortality, hkulud,

which 1 havft approached from a somewhat different angle in the
last chapter", marks the breakdown, of what he calls 'tribal humanism'
as a vital religious force ; for, he says, the problem of the cessation of
a man is in the last analysis the problem of the ultimate destiny of the
individual as distinguished from, and opposed to, the subsistence
of the tribe. He argues that this growth of individualism at the cost
of tribal spirit was probably fostered by the circumstances of com-
mercial life in Mecca. In this center of mercantile life it was natural
that financial and material interest fostered individualism and began
to exercise a strong influence on the social life of the day as a possible
new basis of community, 1 * If these arguments are valid, we might
perhaps safely say that there was in the air a presage of a new age
with new ideals of life, which helped to create areligjo-political society
by means of a passage from tribal humanism to individual humanism.

I have given what may seem a rather lengthy description of the
tribal spirit in JahilTyah, My purpose has been to furnish an appro-
priate background which will bring out by contrast the characteristic
features of Islamic moral ideas. It will be clear that in a social pattern
where the tribal ethos was the only possible principle of unity by which
to preserve a balance and good order among the people, all the noble
qualities were considered to reside not so much in the individual
members of the tribe as in the tribe itself* We are now accustomed
to think of moral virtues as personal qualities inherent in the indi-
vidual. This was rot the ease with the pagan, Araba, For them, moral
virtues were rather precious communal possessions inherited From
fathers and forefathers. A man's honor or glory {tmjd) always came to
him as. an inheritance within the tribe. He felt himself charged with
the sacred duty of transmitting it unharmed, or even greatly increased,
to his posterity.

We inherited our glory from our fathers,

Lol it has grown in our hands to a lofty height, 17

In such a social system personal values could not be thought of
apart from the nobility of the tribe to which one belonged, except in
the exceptional ease of those who built up their fame by their own
personal effort and valor, without getting any support from an

U Watt, pp. 19, *;.

** Ibid. , p, 7i.

17 Ttvt poet is Muharir b, Abt 'Aim, cited by Ibn la^iaq, I, 96.

The Spirit of Tribal Solidarity

illustrious family. Such a man was known as a kkariji.w But, after
all, such original types were extremely rare and sporadic phenomena.
In normal cases, noble ancestry was the sole unmistakable warrant
of the excellence of a man. This explains why pagan poetry is so full
of boastings of the ancestral virtues of one's own tribe. Thus, Abu
Talib" says in praise of Quraysh;

If we are to value all men, you are a jewel,

You preserve people noble and excellent,

With an honorable lineage, with no stain of mixture.

The glorious deeds of the tribe are respectfully handed down by
word of mouth from father to son, and as they are thus transmitted
from generation to generation they go on increasing like a snowball.
The tribal glory thus formed is designated by the word ftasab, which
may be approximately rendered by 'ancestral honor *. 2fl Every noble
family has its own hasab to boast of, Hasab is the final yardstick by
which the value of a tribe, and consequently the personal eKcctlence
of every member of the tribe, is measured. Viewed from a Somewhat
different standpoint the hasab may be said to represent the only
possible guide to moral conduct in the tribal pattern of society. For
every individual member of the tribe sees in the glorious hasab left
by his fathers a body of the highest ideals, a perfect model of behavior
to be imitated in all circumstances of life. It tends to govern all his
actions, and conversely, all his actions are judged right or wrong by
the unique standard it offers. Thus it constitutes for Mm an unwritten
code of law:

He belongs to a tribe whose fathers have laid down

for the 01 a way of life.
Every folk has its own traditional way of life,

every folk has its objects of imitation. 21

A way of life or code of law of this kind, as the reverse side, so to
speak, of the ancestral honor, was called sunnah. We now see why
sunitah was held in such high esteem in ancient Arabia, why there
was even something 'sacred 1 about it.

That this peculiar passion for hasab continued to exist with almost
unabated vigor even in the later years of Islam is shown by many
occurrences. The most interesting of them all is perhaps the rise of
Shu'QbTyah in the early c Abbasi period. Here we see the old inter-
tribal antagonism transformed into a grand-scale opposition of the

18 See, for example. Mufa^attydt, XXII, n.
" fhrt tfttilq, I, 160,

2* A good example revealing the structure of the concept of bomb is. found in
Mufatffaliytit, XXV, j.
21 ] Jbid, Afiftpffofsft, v. Si.

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

Arabs and the non-Arabs within the Islamic community. The
Shtfubiyah was a movement inaugurated by those who claimed a
complete equality of all Muslims, irrespective of race, nationality]
and lineage. Their contention, according to 'fqd al-F&tld by Ibn
'Abd Rabbsh, amounts to this; the Prophet totbade the Muslims to
boast about their ancestors ; and yet, the Arabs still pride themselves
on their noble lineage and keep on looking down upon non-Arabs
with the characteristic haughtiness of Jahiliyah ; but when it comes to
that, we can establish, logically and factually that we have in reality*
better grounds for boasting.

The Shu r iibTyah. could quote in support of this argument the famous
words of the Prophet, which he is said to have uttered in his Farewell
Pilgrimage; '0 men, verily God has eradicated from your minds the
sense of honor and the inflated pride in ancestry, which are both
peculiar to the people of Jahiliyah, You have all sprung from the
common stock of Adam, and Adam sprang from Just.'

This point is of basic importance for the right understanding of the
position of Islam in ethical matters, if it dared to deny all value to
ancestral honor despite such a deep-rooted attachment of the
Arabian aristocracy for it, it was solely because of its belief that all
this was groundless vainglory, an empty illusion created by the out-
ward show of earthly life, and that it would never stand the divine
test on (hcDay of judgment. On that terrible day, when every person
will be called out from the grave and will have to stand naked before
the Judgment Seat, nothing will count among his merits except his
personal faith and the good works which he has done in the world
from purely religious motives.

We have seen that the principle of tribal solidarity among the pagan
Arabs owed the greater part of its vital force and authority to the
sentiment of pride arising from the consciousness of belonging to a
noble stock. Noble blood in one's veins was the prerequisite to the
development of noble personal qualities, ' Honor h was certainly one
of the key concepts of pre- islamic society. It is important to remember
that ' honor' in those days was mainly based on and kept unsullied
by heroism and valor, which, again, were maintained by the spirit of
ibt? meaning literally 'refusal', that is t more concretely, 'refusal to
bow before any authority, be it human or divine', it was, in short, the
spirit of independence, abhorrence of being dominated, haughtiness
and pride standing on the consciousness of one's power and courage.
And such a consciousness was to be expected only from a 'noble'
man. If tribal solidarity could wort in the days of Jahiliyah as the
effective religion of the Arabs^ it was after all a religion of the aristo-
cracy. The weak and poor, the baseborn, people of no descent, the

The Spirit tfTrihal Solidarity

slaves^ in a word, the proletariat — were allowed no share in this
religion.

Nothing was so intolerable for such a L noble' and 'free' man a*
to be in the position of a servant (VW) whose job was to serve his
master obediently. It was intolerable to him whether the master
were a human being or a god. This, however, was exactly what
Islam demanded of him. For in the Quranic conception, God is the
Lord and man is and should be nothing but His humble servant.

In the preceding chapter we have seen how the Qur'an makes the
fear of God, a reverent awe before the infallible and unrelenting
judge, the basic mood of human existence. And we have quoted a
remarkable verse in which 'nobility' is defined in terms of 'fear of
God ' : ' Surely the noblest (akram) of you all in the sight of God is
the one who is most godfeating \pkfd) among you.' (XL1X, 13). We
may make another observation concerning the same passage. The
Islamic position as represented by these words collides head on with
the old ideal of Jahiliyah in two points; first, that it places the locus
of personal qualities in the individual as distinguished from the tribe
and secondly, that it introduces what may seem to the haughty and
proud warriors of Jahiliyah an element of weakness or humility into
the notion of virtue. The first point has already been discussed, So I
shall turn to the problem of humbleness as an essential element of the
Islamic idea of moral virtue. The problem has two different but
closely related aspects, one social, the other spiritual.

In the social system of Jahiliyah the weak and oppressed, the base-
hum and slaves had no share at ill in \W glorious 'honor' handed
down frrnn generation to generation.

Islam, on the contrary, stressed from the very outset the universal
grace and gttodneSS of Allah. The awful Lord of the Last Day is at
the same time the most merciful and the most compassionate God,
who makes no distinction at all between rich and poor, the powerful
and the uninfhiential. Io the presence of this God, all men arc equal,
irrespective ai distinctions of rank and lineage. Nay, He even prefers
the weak and insignificant to the arrogant aristocrats. 'O most
Merciful', so Muhammad prays, 'Thou art indeed the Lord of the
oppressed. Thou art my Lord f 22 It i3 easy to sec that this involves,
on the part of the believers, the moral duty of treating the poor and
weak with utmost tenderness. The Qur'an is replete with commands
and injunctions that are immediate manifestations of this spirit.

All things God has given as spoils of war to His Apostle from the
people of the cities belong to God, and His Apostle, and the

!1 Ibm Iafciq, I, afey.

Frctn Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

near kinsfolk, the orphans, the poor and wayfarers, so that wealth
should not become an exclusive possession of the rich of you.
Whatever the Apostle gives yon, take, and -whatever he forbids
you, abstain. And fear God. {LIX, 7)

Those who do not honor orphans and refuse even a small kindness
to the poor and needy are not simple niggards. From the viewpoint
of Isiiirn, the cause lies much deeper than that. The characteristic
mcrcilcssncss of their attitude originates in their hufr, their lack of
gratitude to God for His grace and goodness. TbJey behave in a
niggardly fashion because they are at heart incorrigible Kafirs,

Hast thou observed him who cried lies to the Judgment? He it is
that repels the orphan, and urges not the feeding of the poor* So
woe to those who pray [i.e. as a matter of outward form as if they
were Muslims] but are in. truth heedless of their own prayers;
woe to those who make a show [of belief] yet refuse to show
kindness. (CVII, 1-7)

In the following passage such conduct of the Kafirs is made more
directly the object of a severe reprimand.

Nay, but you show not any tenderness to the orphan, you urge not
the feeding of the poor. You devour the inheritance [of the
defenceless] with unbounded greed; you love wealth with a
blazing love. (LXXXIX, 18^1/17-20)

The Quran tells us that the Prophet himself was once severely
rebuked by God for his merciless conduct towards a poor blind man.
The Surah in which this event is related carries the significant title
of 'Frowning*, One day, a certain blind man, Ibn Umm Maktum
by name, came to Muhammad while he was talking with some of the
leading people of Quraysh, and began to put importunate questions
about the creeds of Islam* Muhammad, annoyed at the interruption,
turns away from him with a frOwn. Immediately i. divine revelation
is sent down to reprimand him for his tendency towards doing despite
in such a way to the insignificant men while being ready at all times to
attend tespectfully to the wealthy and powerful.

He [i,e. Muhammad] made a grimace and flatly turned his back,
for that the blind man came to him. But wlio knows? Perchance
he [i.e. the blind man] too may make a pure Muslim [lit. will
purify himself], or may come to remember. But as for him who is
rich and powerful, to him dost thou [Muhammad] attend with
care and respect, though at bottom thou art not concerned, whether
he will purify himself or not. But as for him who Comes to thee in
earnest and in fear, to him thou payest no attention. (LXXX, 1-10)

The Spirit of Tribal Solidarity

In a number of other passages God admonishes Muhammad in a
gentler, and sometimes even coaxing tone not to despise and reject
the poor ones; after all it is they, if anybody, who may turn, out to be
most receptive to the teaching of self-surrender.

Keep thyself patient in company with those who call upon their
Lord morning and evening, desiring His countenance. Let not

thine eyes be turned away from them, desiring the pomp of the

life of this world, (XVIII, 27/28)

In S[irah XOTl, 6-11, God addresses His Apostle and tells him
not to oppress orphans and drive away beggars mercilessly. The
tone here, be it noted, is extremely intimate:

Did He not find thee an orphan and give thee shelter?
Did He oot find thee erring, and guide thee?
Did ITe not find thee poor, and give thee wealth?
Therefore the orphan, oppress him not.
Therefore the beggar, rate him not.

It is noteworthy that in these verses a very personal fact about
Muhammad h s unhappy childhood is particularly evoked to remind
him that he has always been the object of God'3 special care and pro-
tection, and that this is made the reason why Muhammad should act
towards the poor and needy with kindness. Translated into more
general terms, this would mean that man should show tenderness
and mercifulness because Allah Himself is the merciful, gracious,
and infinitely loving God, Human goodness is the counterpart —
though of course it cannot be anything more than an incomparably
poor and imperfect counterpart — of divine goodness. In another place
it is expressly stated:

Be thou kind and good [ahsiit from IjSN] even as God has been
good to thee. (XXVIII, 77)

It is very important to keep this point in mind, because in the
matter of sheltering the weak and providing for the needs of orphan
children, Jahillyah too could boast of having produced many ex-
amples of extravagant generosity. Outwardly, the Jahill mind shows
signs of being even more liberal and charitable than the Muslim
mind. Only the underlying motives are completely different, the
motive in the former being essentially self-complacency and vain-
glory, and in the latter Fmitatio Dei.

Thus it comes about that the element of meekness, or humbleness,
as the human counterpart of the benevolence of God, is made the
very pivotal point of Islamic ethics. Most, though not ah", of the

From Tribal Code to Islamic Etkfcs

recopiiied moral duties of Isllm derive in fact from this pious benevo-
lence. Kindness is enjoined, upon the believers on every possible
occasion. Kindness should be the governing principle of all human
relations in society as well as in family. Thus one should be humble
and tender towards one's parents, and always treat them well.

Thy Lord has decreed that you should serve none save Him, and
that you should be kind to parents L If one or both of them attain
old age with thee, say not ' Fie 1" onto them nor chide them, but
speak unto them respectful words, and lower unto them the wing
of humbleness out of mercy, and say, 'My Lord, have mercy upon
them, just us they raised me up when I was a small child/ (XV 11,
24-25/23-24)

We have enjoined upon man kindness towards his parents. His
mother bore him with pain, and with pain did she give birth to
him; it took thirty months for his bearing and his weaning.

<XLV1, 14/15)

The mitigating policy adopted by Islam with regard to the age-old
custom of the blood vengeance was another obvious manifestation
of the aathe principle. It is well-known that blood vengeance was a
Supreme law of the desert, connected most closely with the Arab
idea of 'honor'. Persistence in seeking revenge was an essential
constituent of the conception of mariifimh., or the highest moral ideal
of the Bedouin, of which I have given a summary explanation in an
earlier chapter; it was regarded in Jahiliyah as an important 'virtue'
of man, Nicholson has tried to give a vivid representation of the
true Arab feeling of vengeance by saying that "it was a tormenting
thirst which nothing wogld quench except blood, a disease of honor
which might he described as madness, ' z 3 It was so deep-rooted in
the soul of the pagan Arabs that it could not be extirpated all at -once,
Islam attempted to calm down this raging madness by imposing
upon it some severe restrictions. Hence the ordinance that only the
person of the culprit himself is liable to the justice of the vendetta;
that only one life can be taken, a freeman for a freeman a slave
for a slave, a woman for a woman ; and that, moreover, it would be
better for the kinsmen of the murdered man to accept a blondwit and
settle the matter in a peaceful way. 24

There is something much more noteworthy here. In Islam, we see
the right of taking vengeance transposed from human to divine
hands. In the days of Jahiliyah, bloody vengeance was always sought
by a man upon a man; vengeance was carried out within the bounds

13 Nicholson, p, 93.

J* Bee Stash II, 173-171/178.

The Spirit of Tribal Solidarity

of humanity, on the strictly human level. In Islam, the direction of
vengeance became vertical;, or rather, a new vertical direction made
its appearance and began to run across the horizontal line. God was
declared to be the supreme Avenger of all evils and wrongs done on the
earth. It stands patent from a number of Quranic passages 35 that
the chastisement of Hell was represented as the divine act of retalia-
tion on an infinitely grand scale. And in SO rah XJV, 48/47 and
XXXIX, 38/37, Allah is called the mighty 'Lord of Vengeance'
(dku intiqam). Since, then , there is God who ' never wrongs anybody,
who is 'aware of all that men do 1 , and who promises to take ven-
geance on those who have done any wrong, what better policy for
man to follow than to submit all these matters to Allah's Will?
Though in practice the problem of vengeance was still Studded with
all sorts of difficulties, theoretically at least the conclusion was clear
and simple: here too, benevolence and love should be made the
guiding principle of human conduct.

All this is another way of saying that the principle of fc'An was
adapted by Islam as the central point of its moral system. Wc have
seen that kilm h an Arabic equivalent of the Greek ataraxia t a freedom
from being moved and stirred up on the smallest provocation, 2 *

The [true] servants of the Merciful God are they who walk on the
earth quietly and gently; and who, when the jahilm address them,
reply 'Peace f (XXV, 64/63)

The demand to adopt the principle of htltn and to endeavor to live
up to its highest ideal must have seemed particularly harsh to the
pagan Arabs horn with an extremely passionate and irascible nature.
So in fact this way of life is compared in the Qur'an to the most
difficult place of ascent of a mountain-road, r aqabah. But we are told
at the same time that those who have overcome all its difficulties are
to become the 'companions of the Right* on the Ijflst Day; that is,
they will go to Paradise and enjoy its everlasting bliss, while the
'companions of the Left' are destined for the eternal torment of
Fire.

What is the meaning of the Steep Ascent (^aq&btth)? It is to set
free slaves, or to gjve food on the day of famine to an orphan who is
akin, or a poor man reduced to beggary. And then it is to become
of those who believe and encourage each other to patience, and
encourage each other to acta of kindness, (XC, i^-r7)

" See, for example, XV, 79; XX!i ; +6/47 1 XLlV, i j/16.

*& The reason why the ward Ja'Int irstlf doe* not f> Uy *n, Important rtde in the
CJtir^irv, in spite of the tremendous importance of die concept in the Qur'anie
thought, has been elucidated! in detail in my God 4»rf Mon w the Kt»vn, pp, 116-ji^.

From Tribal Code la Islamic EtJtift

So much for the social side of the problem of pious benevolence.
Turning now to the second of its aspects as distinguished above, the
spiritual, we may heg.in by remarking that here again the principle
of 'Ilumble-mindedileSS' collides head on with the unyielding spirit
of the desert Arabs, the sense of honor, the fierce arrogance, that
hurwyal ai-jafuSyah which, as we have seen in some detail earlier, is
so characteristic of the Bedouin mind,

Islam, as its name itself suggests, insists first and foremost on the
absolute necessity oi humble submission to God. MttsHtn means
literally a 'submitter \ he who has submitted himself and surrendered
his heart and mind to Allah's Will. A total, voluntary sclf-surrcndcr
is the basic characteristic and the first condition of Islamic piety.
It need not surprise if this aroused in a peculiar manner the
f pique of Jahillyah', Humbleness, patience, trembling fear, avoidance
of ostentation— all these cardinal virtues of a Muslim must have
appeared to the mind of a truculent pagan Arab as nothing but
manifestations of natural weakness and humility.

When it is said to such a man 4 Pcar Cod '„ then the sense of honor J7
takes him to sin. So Hell is enough for him. How evil a couch it
will be 1 (II, 302/306)

We have already seen how the Qur'an makes l fear of God*, taqtt>d t
the very basic mood of religion. The most fitting definition of the
true believer is 'one who trembles in fear before God', *0 men! fear
your Lord!* (XXII, 1) ' O you who believe ! fear God. Let every soul
look to what it has sent on for the morrow. And fear God. Verily,
God is well aware of all you are doing.' (LlX, 18) And k is also said:
' The flesh and blood of the sacrificial offerings reach not God : it
is pious fear {taqwd) only that reaches Him from you. ' (XXU, 38/37)
As is easy to see, in these contexts Tear ' is almost synonymous with
'faith' or 'devotion'. The * submission \ the humble obedience to
whatever (5od commands, to which reference has just been made, is
but an aspect of this basic mood.

They assert, ' None shall enter Paradise unless he be a Jew or a
Christian,' This is nothing but their heart's desire. Say thou,
1 Then bring your proof, if what you say is true.' Nay, but who-
soever submits his face [i.e. his whole self] to God and show
kindness {to his neighbors], he shall have his reward from his
TiOrd. (II, 105-106/111-112)

The same is true of the absolute reliance which any believer who is at
all worthy of the name is expected to place upon the goodness of
God. The attitude of maintaining unshakable reliance (tcmoakkui)

!T ^Isiak, i.e. bamlyat ai-Jaliiliyali, ax al-Bay^iiri remarks, Tafttr t ad lee.

7°

The Spirit of Tribal Solidarity

whatever may happen is one of the fundamental properties of a true
Muslim.

Verily, the final decision is only with God. Upon Him do I rely,
and upon Him let all rely who would rely. (XII, 67)

Upon God let the believers rely. And why should we not place
reliance upon God when He has shown us the ways to follow? We
will surely endure with patience whatever hurt you do us. Upon
God let all rely who would rely. (XIV, 14-15/11-12)

Upon God do you rely if you are believers. (V, 26/23)

The last-quoted passage is of particular importance in that it brings
out most clearly and tersely the semantic relationship between
'reliance 1 , tawakkul, and 'belief, fmafl, in the Qur'anic conception.

In just the same way the following example reveals the close inter-
connection between Tear of God* and 'humbk-mindcdness'L

Give good tiding into the humble-minded whose hearts, 'whenever
God is mentioned, tremble with fear. (XXII, 35—36/34—35)

Here the word actually used for 'fear' is not Usqwd, but the verb
inajita which means 'to palpitate with fear', 'to entertain an acute
fear', As for the 'humble-mindedness', the word used in this passage
is mttkhbil, the adjectival-participial form of t'hhbtit. There are a number
of other terms expressing nearly the same thing. The root KH-SH-*
is one of the commonest. Here 1 give two examples of its usage, whose
general contextual situations bring out admirably well what kind of
human character and what type of conduct are considered most
deserving of the adjective 'humble'.

Seek help patiently and in prayer. Verily, this will appear eKtremely
difficult save to the humble-minded {khaskF) who are well aware
that they shall meet their Lord [on the Day of Judgment], and that
unto Him they arc all going back. (11, 42-43/45-46)

You may believe in it [i.e. the Qur'an}, or believe not. Those who
were given the knowledge before this, whenever it is recited to
them, fall down prostrate upon their beards, and say, ' Glory be to
our Lord! Verily, the promise of our Lord will come to pass.'
And so they fall down prostrate upon their beards weeping the
while, and it makes them humble-hearted ever more. (XVII,
108-109/107-109)

Another important ivord for humbleness is tsdomf. The example
which follows is of particular significance for our purpose because,
by putting this word in sharp contrast with its antithesis, it throws a
revealing light on the structure of its semantic category.

Fr out Tribal Code to Iilamic Ethics

We have sent [Apostles] unto peoples before thee, and seized them
with distress and hardship, in order that they might be humble
[yaiadarra'Sna). Ah, if only they had been humble when Our
might came upon them! But their hearts became [the more]
hardened, and Satan embellished to their minds what they were
doing. (VI, 42-43)

'His heart becomes [or is] hard' is a standing expression in the
Qur'an used to denote the peculiar mental attitude of the hdfir.
This wc know from other evidences, as we shall see in full detail in a
later chapter dealing with the concept of bufr t So we have here a. very
significant formula of semantic antithesis: 'humbleness* (tadamf)
is opposed to 'ungratefulness' ikttfr). And since, as wc already know,
ungratefulness is, in the Quranic conception, the very basts of
'unbelief', we may safely conclude that 'humbleness' is an essential
part of ' belief*.

It is highly important to remark in this connection that the Qu^an
employs constantly the verb islakbam describing the usual attitude
of the pagan Arabs towards the evangelistic preaching of Muhammad.
litakbara is a verb derived from the root KBR ' big s and means some-
thing like 'to consider one's self big', 'to be haughty, insolent, or
arrogant'. I have already referred to the negative side of its semantic
structure , and much more will be said in a later context. Here it must
suffice to note that Islam and Jahiliyah stood at antipodes with each
other as regards the principle of submission and humbleness as a
fundamental way of life. As a matter of fact all the Islamic virtues
deriving from this principle are the enact opposites of the cardinal
virtues which the Arabs of the desert were so proud of. Indeed,
Submission is the last thing which might be expected of a pagan
Arab. As a poet said:

We refuse to all men submission to their leading
till we lead them ourselves, yea, without reins J 2il

And he will stubbornly refuse to change this attitude even in the
presence of Cod. For, to his mind accustomed to the lukewarm and
halfhearted worship of idols, a god, after all, is not aod cannot be an
absolute being, absolutely superior to human beings.

As for the virtue of 'humble-mincledness', it goes without saying
that for a Jahili Arab it was nothing but an evidence of base-minded -
ness. In his view, only those who were bascbom and, consequently,
had no natural right to be haughty and proud could, and indeed
should, make themselves humble,

'Reliance' was held highly valuable in desert conditions; only it

M 'Abid b. sl-Abra?, IV, ».

7 2

73* Spirit of Tribal Solidarity

w^s not such *ubrnisKivt: reliance «n a superior being a$ Islam di:-
mandcd, but a more human kind of reliance subsisting among the
members of the tribe, and, in particular, reliance on one's self. Self-
reliance was a mark of a noble nature. It was a basic attitude which
was expected to manifest itself in all phases of human conduct. It
was designated by the word itttghad'. This word derives from a root
meaning ' free from want * and is used to denote the attitude "f a mart
who considers himself absolutely free in all his doings, who stands
completely independent, or dependent only upon himself. Such an
excess of self-confidence, viewed from the standpoint of Islam,
represents a glaring case of insolence and presumptuousness because
it implies ultimately denying the fact of man's crtatdreliness, The
Qur'an emphasizes repeatedly that the only One who has the full
tight to take pride in being self-reliant or independent in the true
sense is God. But to this point we shall have occasion to return later.

7.1

V* The Islamization
of Old Arab Virtues

HlTHElTO IT HAS BEEN MY CONSTANT ENDEAVOR TO BRING TO LIGHT

the basic antagonism that exist* between Islam and Jahiliyah regard-
ing the fundamental principles of life. We would do a grave injustice,
however, to the spirit of Jahiliyah and even to the position of Islam
itself if we supposed that the latter denied and rejected without
discrimination all thtr moral ideals cif pre-Islamiu Arabia as essentially
incompatible with its monotheistic faith. There is clearly recognizable
a certain continuity between the Quranic outlook and the old Arab
world view, as much as there is a wide cleavage between them. This
is particularly noticeable in the sphere of ethical qualities. In this
chapter we shall deal with this aspect of the problem.

It is true that in many important respects Islam broke completely
with the old paganism; but it is, we should not forget, no less true
that, in epite of the bitter attacks on the pagans and their idolatrous
customs, the Quran adopted and revived, in a new form suited to
the needs of monotheism, many ofthe outstanding virtues of paganism.
There is a certain respect in which we might perhaps speak of the
moral aspect of Islam even as a restoration of some of the old Arab
ideals and nomadic virtues which riad degenerated in the hands of
the wealthy merchants of Mecca before the rise of this religion.

The Islamixatim of Old Arab Virtues

It is quite significant in this connection that, in the pictures of
Muhammad which the pious Muslim writers of later ages have left,
we often see a typical hero of the Arabian desert. Interestingly
enough, the personal characteristics attributed to Muhammad in the
books of Tradition are quite in line with the old nomadic ideals of
man that we find so highly praised in the works of pre-Islamic poets.
Take for example the following description of the personality of the
Prophet by f Ah" b. Abi Talib, given by Ibn HishSm 1 in the Sirsh:
*He was of all men the most open-handed, most stout-hearted, most
truthful of tongue, most loyal in the keeping of his trusts, most
serene of mind, and the noblest in friendly intercourse. Those who
saw him for the first time feared him, but those who got acquainted
with him loved him. Indeed, a man like him I have never seen. 1
This is nothing but a picture of an ideal man, containing no element
at all that might have been repugnant to the moral sense of a Jahili
Arab.

Be that as it may, we encounter in the Our'an many of the moral
ideals of the desert in the new garment of Islam. We have already
seen that the highest ethical ideal of the Jahiliyah was murumsk^ and
that it included such various virtues as generosity, bravery and
courage, patience, trustworthiness, and truthfulness. In fact, to all
these virtues the Muslims are exhorted very earnestly in the Quran.
What is much more important to note, however, is that Islam did
not revive or restore these nomadic virtues as it found them among
the Bedouin. In adopting and assimilating them into its system of
moral teachings, Islam purified and freshened them, making their
energy flow into certain channels which it had prepared. Linguistic-
ally we may say that with the advent of Islam some of the key ethical
terms of Jahiliyah underwent a specific semantic transformation.

Of the semantic categories of these words some became thereby
Considerably expanded, some were narrowed down and some were
developed in entirely new directions. In any case, in the Quranic
teaching the old murmsah was made to abandon all its harmful ex-
cesses and to assume a more civilized form. It began to work as a new
moral energy in the midst of the growing community of the Muslims.
And undoubtedly this has given a very specific coloring to Islamic
ethical culture.

Generosity

We shall begin with the virtue of libtral-mindedness or generosity,
to which reference has often been made in the foregoing pages. It
is quite natural that under desert conditions the spirit of charity

1 Ibn Yihi'b I. a&6,

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

and generosity shuutd be given an exceedingly high place in the list
of noble qualities.. In the desert, where even the basic material
necessities are very scarce, acts of hospitality and helpfulness are
beyond any doubt a necessary aspect of the Struggle for existence.
But there is something more than that. Wc may observe first of All
that generosity in the minds of the pagan Arabs was. closely connected
with the JahilT conception of 'honor'. As a great poet of Jahiliyah,
Zuhayr b. Abi Sulmi, said ;

Whoever makes of generosity a shield for his personal honor makes
it grow. But whoever neglects to guard himself from blame, will be
blamed. 2

Acts of generosity were held as a proof of genuine nobility. And the
mare extravagant and impulsive an act of generosity was, the more
it tended to arouse admiration. For a pagan Arab, charity was not
simply a natural manifestation of his feeling of tribal solidarity, for
very often it extended beyond the members of his own tribe to the
strangers who happened to be there. Nor was it always dictated by
the motive of benevolence and kindness. It was first and foremost an
act of chivalry. A man who could make a royal display of his generosity
was a true dandy of the desert. Gcnerusity in tliis Sense was a master
passion of the Arabs. It was not so much a 'virtue' as a blind, irre-
sistible impulse that was deeply rooted in the Arab heart. We may
profitably recall at this point the fact already referred to, that the
pre-Islamic poets used to boast of their habit of excessive wine-
drinking as a mark of a genuinely generous nature, that is, as a mark of
nobility. A man of noble nature, so they sang, should not care for the
morrow. The true meaning of this is that he should perform acts of
liberality For the joy of playing the dandy. And, to inspire the greatest
degree of admiration in the minds of the onlookers, not to speak of
the guests themselves, the liberality should naturally go to the ex-
treme of thoughtless prodigality, rjatim Ta : J, of whom many half-
legendary stories have been handed down to us by tradition, was
acknowlcdgedly a perfect embodiment of the Bedouin ideals of
generosity. We should remember in this connection that the adjective
karim is just the word in Old Arabic for such a combination of the
ideas of lavish generosity and nobility, Karim, in other words, is a
man who is acknowledged by everybody to be 'noble' just because
he proves his own nobtc birth concretely in his acts of limitless
generosity. We have already seen how the Quran dealt a blow to the
semantic category of this adjective by redefining it forcibly in terms
of the fear of God and piety.

Basically the position adopted by the Prophet of Islam agrees
2 Zuhayr b. Abl SulmJL, Ala aKnqcil\, v. ji, in Septet* Mcullaituc.

The Islamisation of Old Ar&b Virtues

with the outlook of the pagan Arabs in that it, too, places a high value
upon charity. For him, no less than for a Jahill, generosity represented
an important virtue. The sole fact that he made it the economic
basis of his new religio-political community goes to show clearly how
high it stood in his estimation. Besides, in itself the nomadic ideal of
generosity contained nothing offensive to, and incompatible with, the
central tenets of the Islamic faith.

I am not a man who lurks about fearfully among the hills.
I am here ready to help, whenever people call for my charity.

So the jahill poet Twafah once declared boastingly.* 'Fearfully',
thait is, through fear of guests who might come to his tent expecting
hospitalities. Nothing prevents such an attitude from being honorable
and praiseworthy in the eyes of the Muslims, In fact, we see the
famous panegyrist of Muhammad, the poet Hassan b, Thabit,
describing him in an encomium as a man who *is lavishly generous
with his possessions, whether inherited or newly gained, even in times
of hardship when an admittedly liberal man would hesitate to give
of his wealth.'

Only there is a fundamental difference between the two positions.
The difference lies in this, that Islam denied all value to acts of
generosity originating in the desire to make a show. Dandyism or
chivalry for its own sake was in this view nothing hut a satanic passion.
What is important is not the act of generosity, but the motive under-
lying it. All acts of generosity are absolutely valueless that come from
the source of vainglory and pride,

O believers, you must not make your charity vain by grudging and
making disagreeable remarks, as one who expends of his wealth
simply for the pleasure of an ostentatious display, and nnt from his
belief in God and the Last Day. Such a man may be compared to

a smooth stone covered with soil; a rainstorm smites it and leaves
it smooth and bare. Though they have amassed great wealth, they
can make naught out of that, for God guides not the Kafirs,
(II, 2667264)

It follow* that, although generosity is a virtue, it ceases to be a virtue
and even hecomes positively a vice if it goes to the length of waste-
fulness. It is significant that in this verse he who does this is ex-
plicitly called a Kafir. In another verse a prodigal is formally declared
the Devil's brother:

Give the kinsman his due, and the poor, and the wayfarer. But
never waste in sheer waste, for those who squander are brothers

3 T-nmfifli, v. 4,5,

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

of Satan, and Satan is ever ungrateful (iafir) to his Lord. (XVII,

2S-29/26-27)

Niggardliness is of course dishonorable, it is admittedly a moral
defect or a vice. But the excess of Lavishness is no less a dishonorable
moral defect, Keep always to the happy medium; this is the rule of
conduct that must control bclievcre in matters concerning private
property.

Keep not thy Land fettered to thy neck, nor yet spread it out too
widespread, lest thou shouldst become an object of reproach or
stripped naked, Lo, thy Lord spread out His provision to whomso-
ever He will or again straitens it as He will. (XVII, 31-34/29-30}

The true servants of the Merciful God are . . . those who, when
they spend, are neither prodigal nor miserly, but who ever take
the constant mean between the two. (XXV, 67)

In. order that generosity may become a genuine Islamic virtue, it
must first of all be deprived of the thoughtlessness which character-
ized it in the days of jahiliyah. One who goes to the lt^ngth of
slaughtering on the spur of the moment, or worse still merely for
display, all his camels without stopping a moment to think that his
act may reduce him and his family to misery and perdition on the
morrow — such a one may very well have been a model of murutsah
or karam in Jahiliyah, but is no longer to be considered a man of
true generosity. A man of true generosity is he who 'expends his
wealth in Cod's way', that is, from a pious motive. 4 And being
founded on piety, it must be something wcll-oontrollcd and restrained.
Generosity in Islam is something essentially different from the
boastful and excessive charity of which tho pagan Arabs were so
fond. Thus the duty of almsgiving was offered to the Muslims as the
most suitable mold into which they might pour their natural gener-
osity without being led into the satanic vices of haughtiness and
extravagance. Almsgiving provided in this way a new outlet for the
old instinct of generosity that was deeply rooted in the Arab soul,
but it was so calculated, at the same time, as to work as a powerful
regulator of its excessive energy.

As is well known, in the Muslim empire after the Prophet's death,
almsgiving developed rapidly into a legalised tax known under the
name of sctkat. There is evidence that this development was already
in process during his lifetime. And yet, in the Qur^an itself we find

+ ' The capendirjg of one's wealth deserves [the divine] reward only when it is
*M*rnpfirlI*d by lh* wish to JSfth ifisr GohTs cayntejimfiw, to w&trtlit Hwii *nd
to obey Him. When ir ii not accompanied by all this, the doer Aoea not deserve
may reward bv his action," Sinrif at-Mitftsdi, J, 104.

The hlamtzation of Old Arab Virtues

no precise indication as. to how and how much alms should be paid.
The believer* are strongly exhorted to almsgiving as an act of pious
benevolence; it still belongs to the sphere of personal ethics rather
than that of social duties; it is a religious duty. It should be noted in
this connection that those verses in which almsgiving is enjoined
upon the believers — and which, by the way, are extremely numerous
— contain almost always some reference to "faith 1 as its ultimate
source and ' eschatological reward 1 as its final result.

Believe in God and His Apostle, and expend [i,e> give alms] of
that which He has given you in inheritance. Those of you who
believe and give alms, for them there shall be a great reward.
(LVII, 7 )

Those who expend their wealth in God's way may be compare!
to a grain that sprouts seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains.
God will increase for whom He pleases. For God embraces all
and knows everything. Those who expend their wealth in God's
way, and then follow not up what they expended with grudging
and the making of disagreeable remarks, those shall have their
wage with their Ixird, and no fear shall come upon them, neither
shall they grieve. (II, 263-364/261-263)

From some passages of the Qur 3 an we gather that there were people,
particularly among the Arabs of the desert, who, though outwardly
good Muslims, regarded the alms they gave as a sort of fine {maghratn)
or compulsory donation, whereas the Muslims worthy of the name
should regard all that they expended in alms as a means of Approach-
ing God.

Of the Bedouin there are some who regard what they expend [in
the way of God] as a forced donation, and wait [in secret] a turn of
fortune against you [i.e. the Muslims]. Against them shall be the
turn of evil fortune, for God hears all and knows all.
Again of the Bedouin there are some who believe in God and the
Last Day, and take what they spend for a means of approach to
God and to the prayers of the Apostle. And so it really is a means
of approach. (IX, 99—100/98-99)

But even here, even in the way of God, thoughtless extravagance is
to be avoided. Almsgiving is a religion's doty imposed on every

Muslim, but to give out all one has too liberally and thoughtlessly
until one is cast by one's own hands into perdition is neither more nor
less than to fall back into the godless folly of jahiliyah. The following
passage from SOrah II is best understood, I think, as referring to
this point, though according to the old commentaries it is capable
of being explained in several other ways.

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

Expend your wealth in God's way, but csat not yourselves by
your own hands into perdition, 5 Try to do good,* for God loves
the good-doers (mufysitttn). (II, 19S/195)

If it is disgraceful to be cast by one's own bandit to ruin, it is
much more disgraceful to be called a 'niggard ', Niggardliness (bitkhl),
as the opposite of the virtue of generosity, was looked upon as a
glaring case of shamelessness and ignominy. In view of the highest
estimation, in which generosity stood, it is indeed quite natural that
in both Jahilfyab and Islam niggardliness was regarded as a most
despicable quality; and to show even the slightest sign of it was held
as something of which a ' man]y ' man should be ashamed. The poet
Zuhayr In a famous passage uf bis Ode, known as an epitome of the
desert ethics says:

He who, being in possession of great wealth, shows himself
niggardly of it towards his folk shall end by being shunned and
reviled.?

It is told that Muhammad once asked the people of Kanu Salamah,
'Who is your chief?"; when they replied, l al-Jadd b. Qays> though
he is a niggard', the Apostle said "There is no disease more malignant
than niggardliness.' 8

It is highly probable, as Professor Watt suggests,' that about the
time of Muhammad the conduct of the rich Meccaiis particularly
tended to show signs of such a dishonorable nature, and that it is
chiefly these rich Meccan merchants that are so severely rebuked in
the Qurln as 'niggards' who are incorrigibly rotten to the core.
We should remember, however, that even in the desert in the days of
Jahilfyah there appear to have been a large number of persons who
were conspicuous by their niggardliness and covetousness. r I"he very
fact that so many poets in bo many passages of their works declare
emphatically that they are perfectly free from the vice is good evidence
of the existence of it in the society.

A contemporary Arab scholar, 10 writing about the life of the pre-
Islainic Arabs has drawn our attention to a very curious fact that, as
far as one can gather from the poetry of Jahillyah and old traditions

* i.e. 'by squandering it thmjfiln tlessly »>4H endanger your own livelihood';
al-Baydlwra Tafifr, ad. lee.

* i.e., your aim hi <;>tjje:)LlinK in. ajms almuld be solely tu di> uti act uf kuniniaa,
and mot to nuJoc a show of raii»ir»gBJit liberality.

7 Zuhayr h. Abi SulfnS, v. s*.
e Ibn Isbatj. I, 309.

* Watt, Chapter 111, Section 3, pp. 72-79.

I* A^tthJ M-ub^TTunad *]-^iifi: ffiryal alsArribiyoh min al^Shi'r at-Jahiif
[The life of the Arabs as miirorcd in pre- Islamic pocrry J (Cairo, 1 952 ), pp. 23 1 il .

The Islamimtim of Old Arab Virtues

contained in the 'Book of Songs' and Others, this was particularly
the case with women. From abundant evidence he draws a conclusion

to the effect that in the time of jahillyah women generally tended to
be niggards, or at least they had to show themselves more niggardly
than men because of their particular position in society and in the
home. Jn their eyes, the principle of unrestrained generosity was not
a praiseworthy virtue at all; it was, on the contrary, an incurable
vice of the other sex, which was all the more to be repressed because
it was by nature harmful and destructive to the happiness of family
life. From the feminine standpoint, generous hospitality — particularly
when it was: too generous- -was nothing more than stupidity and
foolishness {safah). In fact, in old poetry we see wives described as
incessantly casting reproach on their husbands for their carelessness
in squandering away their precious things, and men, on their part,
as busy making attempt to justify their extravagant generosity, the
only excuse they can afford being that such generosity is the sole
way to an eternal fame, while wealth is the way to blame and shame.
It would be extremely interesting to observe that the paint of
view of the rich Meccan merchants at the time of the rise of Islam
was exactly the same as that »f the Jijhili housewives just referred to.
Here, in the essentially mercantile community uf Mecca, the ideal
of muruurah had lost its all-powerful influence. The tribal sense, of
honor was no longer capable of functioning as the real basis of human
Jife. Wealth, not honor, was now the ideal of life. Wealth, of which the
desert Arabs used to speak in such disparaging terms as a way to
blame and shame, was regarded here as the only way to glory. Far
from being a vice, niggardliness was now a sign of a good financial
ability, the real source of power and eminence in society. It is natural
that the rich Mcccans, even after they adopted Islam, still continued
to 'clench their hinds', to use the Quranic expression (IX, 68/67),
and grudged giving the prescribed alms or even flatly refused to give
anything. It is also natural that the Quran should accuse them of
niggardliness.

Some of them have given a solemn pledge to God that L if He give
us of His bounty, we will surely give alms and become of the good
believers/ And yet, when He actually gave them of His bounty,
they showed themselves niggardly {hahhilu, a verbal Form of buhhl)
thereof, and turned away and Swerved aside. (IX, 76-77/75-76)

The Quran does not hesitate to threaten them with the most dreadful
eschatological punishment.

Let not those who show themselves niggardly (yctbkfwffitKi, a
verbal form of bukhl) of what God has given them of His bounty

* 81

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

count that it is better for them. Nay, it is worse for them, for on the
day of Resurrection they shall have hung around their necks all
that they have been bo niggardly of. (Ill, 175-176/180)

Those who stent up gold and silver, and expend it not in God's
way — give them the good tidings of a painful torment ! On the day
when they shall be heated in the fire of Hell, and their foreheads
shall be burnt therewith, and their sides and their backs likewise,
'This is [the reward] of what you have stored up for yourselves;
so taste you now what you stored up i' (IX, 34-35}

I should like to draw attention to the small phrase 'in God's way* in
this passage. It shows that there again what is made the target of
condemnation is not niggardliness in general, but niggardliness in the
specific sphere of religious activity. It is, in other word*, those who
are niggardly in the way of God, those who reveal their niggardly
nature particularly in the fulfilment of the duty of almsgiving, that
arc sentenced to the eternal punishment of Hell. For the same
Kafirs themselves were quite ready and willing to spend their wealth
generously when they knew that they were thereby aiding the cause
of resistance to Muhammad's new religious movement. Many
verses of the Qur^Sn bear witness to this :

' Lo ! Kafirs spend their wealth freely for the purpose of debarring
men from God's way.* (VIII, 36)

The vigorous denunciation by Islam of niggardliness as a vice
worthy of severe punishment had nothing novel and unfamiliar
about it in the social circumstances of the day, particularly among the
desert Arabs, Tt was in a certain respect nothing but a revival of an
important aspect of the old nomadic ideal. And if we take into ac-
count the tendency towards niggardliness among Jahili women, we
might perhaps speak of it as a restoration of the specifically 'manly'
aspect of the ideal of muriiwak. But it was not simple revivification
of the old Bedouin sentiment of hatred towards all that debars men
from lavish generosity, It is highly characteristic of Islam that it
tried to revive this sentiment not as it was there, but in a form best
suited to its own requirements. To the old inveterate hatred of
niggardliness in the Arab mind it gave a fresh stimulus, giving it a
new direction and. furnishing it with a new invigorating ideal.

This, however, should not make us forget that this condemnation
of niggardliness 'in the way of God' was backed by 2. deep insight
into the essential feature of human nature. Man is by nature nig-
gardly, covetous, and greedy. Niggardliness in God's way is, viewed
from this point, but a manifestation of the more fundamental
tendency of the human soul.

The Islwtrisaiiott of Old Arab Virtues

Say, ' Even if you were in possession of the treasuries of my Lord's
mercy, yet you would surely remain tight-fisted, ever afraid of
expending. Verily man is niggardly.' (XVII, 102/100)

The word here translated 'niggardly' b qatiir, which means the same
as oak/til, that is, one who is characterized by buhhl, a niggardly,
avaricious, or stingy person. The root QTR appears in a verbal form
in Surah XXV, 67. There it is used very significantly in antithesis
to israf, the act of squandering away one's wealth carelessly. 'The
true servants of God arc . . . those who , . . neither squander
{yusrifu) nor yet behave too niggardly ( yaqturU), but who ever take
the constant mean between the two extremes, 1 From this it is clear
that qutr represents the other extreme of the scale starting from
prodigality in the direction of non-prodigality, that is, niggardliness
in the utmost degree.

The Qur'an offers in this sphere another important word, shuhk
(or ihahh or skihh), meaning the utmost degree of niggardliness or
covctousness. The word tends to carry an clement of strong depreca-
tion and disapproval; it presents niggardliness as a reprehensible
state of mind. Concerning the difference between skuhh and buhhl,
it is said 11 that bttkhl denotes the very act of niggardliness whereas
skuhh refers to the particular state of the soul that necessitates acts
of niggardliness. This interpretation appears to be confirmed by the
Qur'anic usage of the word in question. It is at any rate highly signifi-
cant that the Qur'an uses skuhh in reference to the essential nature
of the human soul.

Skuhh is in the very nature of the souls. But if you do acts of
chanty through fear of God, verily God will never fail to take
notice of what you do. (IV, 127/128)

Fear God as much as you can, and give ear, and obey, and expend
willingly for the sake of your souls. And whosoever is saved from
the thuhh of his soul, such are the prosperous. (LXIV, it; see also
LIX, o)

Courage

I have tried to show how the Qur'an revived the old ideal of generosity
in the religious atmosphere of the newly formed Muslim community
and succeeded in developing the peculiarly Arab impulse to generosity
into a genuine Islamic virtue. Practically the same thing is true of the

virtue of bravery.

Now it was natural that in desert conditions courage or bravery

li al-Ba&kl: xajs Jtt-matf; at-i!m$ft: al-feilah al-ttafidniyah allaii taqiadf dtttllilta
a(-i*Ktn'. al-Bus-tanl's Muldt ai-Mubif, I, 69,

From Tribal Code to hkmk Ethics

was given the highest place among the virtues. It was admittedly an
essential ingredient of the murQtotik. In the Arabian, steppes where the
forces of nature were so severe against human beings and where
brigandage, far from constituting a crime, was often almost the only
alternative to death, nothing could excel in importance physical
strength and military prowess, The triba] honor among the pagan
Arabs, of which I have given above a somewJiat detailed description,
was to a large extent a matter of prowess. For the Arabs of the desert,
the bloodiest fight, whether tribal or personal, was the very source and
mainspring of life as well as of honor. The time was indeed hard for
weaklings and cowards.

My lineage goes not back to weaklings and the unarmoured
Nor to some abject, miserable cowards on the battlefield.
But a son of those warriors am I, who used to smite
The streaks of the helms whenever they met them.
Who with long sword -be Its, imperturbably went to death.

So says pirar b. al-Kha^ab with evident pride. In the desert where,
as the poet Zuhayr says, 'he who defends not his watering-place
with his own weapons will have it devastated, and he who wrongs not
Others will himself be wronged ', bravery was not simply a defensive
weapon; it was something much more positive and aggressive.
Zuhayr does not mind declaring openly in his moral teaching that it
is not enough for *a warrior, fierce as a Hon, to strike back and chastise
his enemy when the latter has struck him a hlow; he should rather
take the initiative and become an aggressor when no one wrongs
him.' 1 2 Thus the virtue of courage and bravery among the pagan
Arabs was often no better than cruelty and inhuman ferocity in
tribal feuds, We have already seen that this is precisely wliat char-
acterises johillyah as opposed to frilm.

Isllm does not differ from Jahiliyah in its praise of courage and
scorn of cowardice, f Tere too, as in pagan times, it wa& the highest
honor fur men to be described as 'unfaltering in danger, no weakling
they; bold and intrepid against their enemy in every arena of battle'
(Ka ; b h. Malik), and it was no less a disgrace for the Muslims than
for the pagan Arabs to have it reported: "They shrank from death;
that is why their private pasture land was taken as a spoil. They did
the act of base and mean cowards/ Just as in the case of generosity,
however, Islam cut off all excessive elements from this Jahili virtue
and made out of it a typically Islamic virtue. In the days of paganism
Courage was displayed, as it were, for courage's sake. A broad survey
of prc-lslamic poetry creates an impression that the Jahili warriors
showed dauntless, reckless courage on the battlefield only to gratify

11 Zuhayr fa. Afal Sulmi, Mjffiil^mh, w- 3S-J9.
84

The hlumization of Old Arab Virtues

an irresistible desire; courage was then largely a matter of un-
restrained and unrestraioable impulse. In Islam this underwent a
peculiar transformation, without, however, losing an atom of its
original energy. It was no longer a blind, unruly impulse. It was now
a noble, well-disciplined courage with a lofty aim serving the cause
of the right religion: courage ' in the way of God.'

O you who believe, smite the Kafirs in your neighborhood until
you bring them to cry mercy. But always remember that God is
with the god-fearing (IX, 124/123)

Will you not smite a people who broke their pledges and intended
to expel the Apostle? They attacked you first. What ! Axe you afraid
of them? God deserves more that you should be afraid of Him, if
you are really believers.

Smite them I God will chastise them at your hands, and disgrace
them, and help you against them towards victory. He will heal the
breasts of a people who believe, and will remove the burning rage
from their hearts. God turns into whom He pleases. (IX, 13 -15)

Rumor spread incredibly fast in the desert, For a Jahili. warrior it
was an unbearable shame to have it said that he had turned his back
upon the enemy on the battlefield and fled before them, for it was
Sure to bring the deepest disgrace not only upon his own head but also
upon the tribal honor itself. For a Muslim, too, to fly before the enemy
when fighting in the way of God was to commit the most infamous
offence against religion and God. To be called a runaway (jarrar)
was a moral stain that could not be wiped off easily. Thus in thE battle
of Mu^tah in A.H. 8, the Muslim army was severely smitten by the
overwhelmingly numerous enemy. The famous 'Sword of Allah',
Khalid b. al-Walid, being a great commander, decided to beat a
hasty refreat in order to avoid spilling Muslim blood to no purpose.
When, however, the army eame back to Medina, the enraged crowd
threw dirt at them, shouting, "O you runaways 1 How durst you fiee
in the way of God? 1 And even Muhammad cnuld not allay the
excitement. It is related about a certain Saiamah h. Ilisham that he
could nut go out of his house even a step . His wife, when asked, * How
is it that I do not see your husband at prayers with the Apostle
together with other believers? 1 is said to have replied, 'By God, it is
actually impossible for him to go out. For every time he does the
people shout, "Coward ! You fled in God's way I" so much so that he
remains nowadays in his house and never goes out,' 15 We find the
same sta,te of mind expressed in the Qur'In, though with a mitigating
reservation which is intended to justify the cases in which the Muslims
have to beat a retreat for some strategic purpose,

U Itwi fsii&j, H, 7S 3,

S 5

From Tribal Code to Islamic Etktcs

O you who believe, when you encounter the Kafirs marching
against you, turn not your back to them. He who on such a day
turns his back to them — unless he be escaping by stratagem to
attack them afnesh nr withdrawing to join another troop — has
incurred the wrath of God ; hie. final habitation will be Hell; an evil
journey, indeed! (VllJ, 15—16)

Those who show reluctance in going forth in the way of God disclose
by that very attitude that they arc not true Muslims.

No matter how they may swear by God that they belong to your
community [i.e. that they are Muslims], they are in reality not of
you, for they are a people of a cowardly nature (yafraqSw : farnq

meaning 'to be timorous, pusillanimous') (IX, 56)

In the following passage it is categorically affirmed that the true
believer (mu'ptitt), that is, 'he who ts god-fearing' (muttaql) does not
fear his human enemy, and is ready to fight strenuously with his
wealth and his person, while he who does not fear God does fear to
fight in His way.

Those who believe in God and the Last Day will never beg off
from going to fight; they will strive with their wealth and their
lives, God is aware of those who fear Him. They alone beg off
from thee who believe not in God and the Last Day, and whose
hearts are in doubt, so that they waver in their doubt. (IX, 44-45}

To put it in a nutshell, what is now demanded of a true believer is no
longer that brute Courage of which the poets of Jahiliyah Spoke so
boastingly, but an entirely new kind of military prowess born of, and
based on, a firm belief in God and the Last Day. In Jahillyah courage
was something groundless and without direction. The Qur'an
provided it with a definite direction, and succeeded, as the sub-
sequent history of the Islamic empire affords abundant proof, in
creating out of it the most formidable weapon in the hands of the
believers for fighting the enemies of Allah.

Loyalty

That faithfulness or trustworthiness was one of the highest and most
characteristic virtues in the desert is known to every reader of pre-
Islamic poetry and traditions. As might be expected, the Jahili
virtue of loyalty was largely a matter of kinship by blood. It was
mostly practiced within the hounds of the tribe ; and within this
narrow sphere, loyalty ruled absolute and supreme* It manifested
itself as the mast disinterested self-sacrifice on behalf of one's kins-
men, the most faithful devotion to one's friends, and also as the

The Itlamizatioti nf Old Arah Virtuet

greatest fidelity shown in the keeping of a covenant plighted and trust
committed. Very often a solemn compact Could extend the sphere of
effectiveness of this virtue even beyond the limits of the tribe. This is
illustrated by the typical example of Samaw'al b, c Adiya, which is too
well-known now to be repeated in detail here, 14 Demanded by a
besieging tyrant to surrender the coats of mail which the poet
Imru J al-Qays had committed to him, Samaw^al, though no relative
of the poet by blood, refused to do so and finally saw his son slaught-
ered before his own eyes. Even today the name of Samaw^al survives
on the lips of the Arabs as the highest embodiment of the Bedouin
ideal of loyalty. And the poet Zuhayr, in the oft-quoted verse says
concerning wafa'i

He who proves faithful to his covenant escapes blame, and he
whose heart aims at the calmness of integrity will never have to
falter,"

This fervent veneration of faithfulness and loyalty Islam inherited
from jahillyah, in its original nomadic vigorousness. It is clear from
both the Qur*an itself and Apostolic Tradition that the virtue of
loyalty peculiar to the desert Arabs was adopted by Islam as an
important item of its moral code and was even given there a very high
place of honour. Just as in the case of other nomadic ideals, however,
Islam did not remain, content with simple adoption, but developed
this old virtue in a peculiar way, and succeeded in leading it into the
groove of monotheistic faith. This islamization of the nomadic
virtue of wafa' was effected in two distinct but closely related
directions ; in the sphere of ordinary social relationships among the
believers themselves, and in the properly religious sphere concerning
the vertical relationship between God and man.

On the first of these two points little need be said here. For any
detailed discussion of this aspect of the question would be nothing
more than tedious repetition of what was already said in the preceding
chapter concerning the abolition of tribal solidarity in Islam. The
virtue of wafif) having been born of a particular consciousness of
blood fellowship produced by a solemn ceremony of sacrifice, was
primarily a tribal or intertribal affair. It was first of all the most
chivalrous devotion to each other between the members of one and the
same tribe. It was, secondly, the sacred Covenant connection between
different tribes and clans. Any two tribes that happened to agree on
anything, friendship, for example, or marriage, trading, etc, offered
a common sacrifice to some deity, and entered thereby into a solemn
agreement. Islam, by breaking down all limitations due to the tribal

H S« for in»tan« NieholsOTi, pp. 84-S^.
ls Zuhayr b. Abl Sulma, v. +3.

From Tribal Code fo Iflsmu: Ettda

pattern or society, put the virtue of fidelity on a wider basis, trans-
formed it into something supcrtribalj truly human. Waft? thus
became a mora) force capable of operating in an individualistic
society.

What is much more important is the second of the two points
distinguished above: the Islamic transformation of feafd' in the
religious sphere, Fere we see the Prophet transcending all the crude
ideas of primitive nomadic religion and betaking himself to the
characteristically Semitic Conception of Covenant, as a formal expres-
sion of the religious bond between God and men. It goes without
saying that this conception of religion is most typically exemplified
by the Old Testament. 'ilie most fundamental and most general
frame within which the religious consciousness of Israel moved and
developed was the idea of the covenant between Yahweh and the
people of Israel as a whole, *I will be your God, and you shall be My
people,' The covenant was first imposed on Israel by Yahweh Himself
by His act of pure grace in redeeming them out of Egypt. This
point is repeatedly emphasized in the Qur'an, too. 'We delivered you
from Pharaoh's family who were inflicting atrocious tortures. . . . We
tore in two the Red Sea and delivered you, and drowned Pharaoh's
family before your own eyes,' (II, 46-47/40-50) But every covenant,
inasmuch as it is a covenant, puts both parties under obligations.
By the very act of imposing His covenant on His people, Yahweh
ako laid Himself under obligation to fulfill the covenant conditions;
He gave His word that He would be God of Israel, love them,
deliver them, guide them to salvation, with all that 19 implied by
'being the God of a people'. And, it should be remembered* 'God
never breaks His promise, though most men do not knew it, 1
(XXX, 5/6), Thus Yahweh and Israel contracted themselves into a
mutual relationship of claims and rights. It is quite significant that this
basic relation between Yahweh and Israel is referred to very frequently
in the Qur'an.

children of Israel, remember My blessing with which I blessed
you, and fulfill My covenant and I shall fulfill yours. Me you should
fear. (II, 38/40)

It i3 beyond doubt also that the Qur^ah transferred this particular
relationship between Yahweh and Israel into the very center of Islam
and made it the basic form of the relationship between Allah and the

Muslims.

Verily, those who swear fealty to thee [Muhammad] swear fealty
by that very act unto God. The hand of God is over their hands
[representing the ritual ceremony of covenant-making]. So who-
soever breaks his oath [after that] breaks it only to his own hurt,

The Fsbnrtizalictt of Old Arab Virttut

and whosoever fulfills his covenant with God, on him will God
bestow a great reward. (XLVJf I, 10)

The conception of religion as based on a covenant between two parties
is indeed no less characteristic of the Qur'an than of the Old Testa-
ment. And practically all the moral values that developed in Islam
may be said to have something to do with the covenant -idea, directly
or at least indirectly. The virtue of SDQ is perhaps the first of those
that are most intimately related to this basic conception.

This root, $DQ, appears in the Qur°an in a number of forms;
sadeqa, verbal, p'dq, nominal, $&diq, participial-adjectival, fiddiq,
emphatic-adjectival, and so on. We may make a beginning by
noting that among the old Arab lexicographers sidq is recognized
by common consent to be the exact opposite of kadhib ('falsehood',
'lie 1 ). According to Ibn Faris b, Zakartya 1 , the famous author of
one of the earliest alphabetical dictionaries, the basic meaning of the
root is 'strength ', or 'hardness ', whether of language or other things.
This original meaning, he says, is still to be seen in the adjective
sadq meaning 'hard, vigorous', $idq is the 'truth' of language, so
named because of its 'strength' as opposed to the weakness of false-
hood. 16

In effect, the most usual sense of sidq is to 'speak truth', to give
information which is true, i.e. which conforms to the reality. This
meaning of the word is clearly seen in the most ordinary sentences
of the type: 'They investigated the report closely and found that the
reporter had spoken truth (sadaqa).' In sentences of this kind sidq
means beyond any doubt conformity of language to reality. This,
however, does not exhaust the vdtok of its meaning.

Now the truth of language, that is, the process by which any speech
becomes true, may he looked at from two opposite sides, subjective
and objective. The objective pole is the reality to which language
conforms. In Arabic this pole is designated by the word haqq, a word
which is also generally translated 'truth'. Ilaqq then, represents the
specifically objective side of the truth. Sidq is the opposite polej it
refers more particularly to a property in the speaker, which tends to
make his words correspond with the reality, i.e. his truthfulness.
The following example taken from Ihn Ishaq brings out this point
admirably welL ' The Apostle of God informed the people of what
they knew was troth {ha ryij) and so they recognized at once his truth-
fulness {sidq},'

Equally interesting in this respect is the following verse by
Tarafah:

'* Ibn Firb, M^jam Mojpyfj al-Li«kah, ed. 'Abd nl-S*lam Harun (Cairo,

tir. 1366-1371), 111, 335.

From Tribal Cadi to Ftlamic Ethut

Wa-at-sidq ya^lafuktt al^latnh al^murtajd *
wa-sl-kadMb yarl&fuhv al^d&nJ ai-okkyi^

Truthfulness is a constant quality of a man who is persevering,
always to be trusted, while falsehood is a constant quality of a man
vile and deceptive.

It is interesting to notice in this connection a very curious observation
made by some Arab lexicographers about the- semantic structure of
sidt/. For a given statement to be $idq, we are told, it is not enough that
the words used conform to reality ; they should also conform to the
idea of reality in. the mind of the speaker. It 13 the existence of the
intention or determination to he true that constitutes the most
decisive element in the semantic sttuctui* of jidq. But the formula
'the intention to be true to reality' may, as a matter of actual fact, be
understood in various ways and may cover wider or narrower areas of
meaning, because the 'reality' admits of considerable variety. It may
be simply an objective fact, popular custom, a rule of conduct, a
treaty, or again the words one has uttered oneself. In all these cases
$idq acquires very obvious implications of sincerity, steadfastness,
honesty, and trustworthiness. Thus we encounter many examples of
actual usage of pdq in the Qui 1 !™ as elsewhere, which mere 'speaking
the truth' could in no way account for.

The most remarkable of all — and that not only from the specific
standpoint nf the present chapter, but more generally — is -perhaps the
case in which sadiq is used in the Quran in contrast to kajir or
munajiq, "perfidious*.

And when We [Allah] imposed a covenant upon the Prophets, and
upon thee [Muhammad], and upon Noah, Abraham, Moses, and
Jesus son of Mary, We imposed upon them a solemn covenant,
that He [Allah] might question [on the Last Day] the sadiq
concerning their sidq. He has prepared for the ftdfir a painful
chastisement. (XXXIII, 7-8)

We are told here that on the Day of Judgment all men will be divided
into two categories: the class of sadiq and the class of kafir. The
sadiq are those who have remained throughout their life unswervingly
true to the covenant obligations, while the kafir are, as. we already know
very well, those who have always shown themselves ungrateful to the
grace of God, and have been, by implication, untrue and unfaithful
to the same covenant. It is highly significant that in this passage ridq
IS Spoken of in particular reference to the covenant between God and
His people. Here the contextual situation forces us to translate
sadiq by 'faithful*, and sidq by 'faithfulness* or 'loyalty',

n farafah, Dtudn, ed. M. Scligsohn [finis, i<>oi), XII, v. f.

9,0

The Isiamixatitm of Old Arab Virtue*

In the following passage, in which sadiq stands opposed to mtimlfiq
'perfidious', the verb sadaqa (in m, pi. form sadaqu\ should be ren-
dered as 'they remained true to 1 , or, 'they fulfilled' (their covenant).

There are amongst the believers men who have remained true
{sadaqa) to their covenant with God, and there are some who have
fulfilled their vow [by martyrdom], and some who still wait and
have not changed lightly; that God might reward the sadiq, and
punish the mut&fiqtt He please, or turn again unto them, (XXXIII,

The word tidq must perhaps be understood in the same way when
it appears alongside of c adi 'justice' in Surah VI, 115, This inter-
pretation becomes the more probable if we, as I think we should,
take the latter half of the passage, indicating the absolute unchange-
ablcness of divine words, as a kind of periphrasis for what is implied
by sidq,

Perfect are the words of thy I^ord in sidq and r adL Naught can
change His words.

Here we see sidq used in reference to the words of God, This means
simply that God as an active participant in the 'covenant' remains
true to His own words. And this is nothing other than a particular
way of expressing the thought that God's words once uttered cannot
be changed with fickleness, that, in other words, they are absolutely
trustworthy.

However this may be, it is certain that sidq in the sense of 'being
true to one's words' comes very near the word waff which, as we
ww, also denotes the quality in man of being faithful and loyal.
And in feet we encounter very often these two terms employed
side by side synonymously, e.g. 'I am in covenant with Muhammad
and I do not wish to break my word because I have never seen in
him ejtoept faithfulness {<imfa* and jiiij),' 18 And a poet contemporary
with Muhammad says in a passage of bis poem composed after the
battle of Uhud: 'We parted with Abu Sufyanon the promise that
we should meet again at Badr ; but we did not find him to his promise
true [jidq) nor was he a man of faithfulness (wSft, participial-ad-
jectival form of ttioff).' 19

It would not be without interest to note in this connection what
Ahii Rakr is said to have remarked concerning tfdq. It is related that,
when be was elected Khallfah after the Apostle's death, he declared
in a passage of his speech, ' The essensc of sidq is ainanuk, while the
essence of hadhib is hhtydnak' Amanah is another word meaning the

1* Itui I*lj*q, II, 674.
1* ibid., p. too.

From Tribal Cods to Ishjms Ethics

human quality of being trustworthy, trustworthiness, or honesty,
while kkiyanah denotes its Opposite, namely, trcacherousneas,
betrayal, or perfidy. It will he easy to see how closely sidq, truth, was
related to the idea of trustworthiness in the linguistic consciousness
of the old Arabs, and also how high a place it occupied among the
nomadic as well as the Islamic virtues.

There remains to explain one more important form derived from
the Same root, siddfq. It is extremely difficult to state in a definite
manner the exact meaning of this controversial term. One thing is
certain ; that this is a itiubalaghah (intensive, lit,, exaggerating) form
of sadiq. It denotes, in other words, the highest possible degree of
fidq; but this is still very ambiguous because sidq, as we know, has
two distinguishable aspects. According to the commonest view among
the Arab philologists, it refers specifically to the element of speaking
the truth, $iddlq in. this view means ' highly veracious h , 'who speaks
nothing but truth*, 'who never lies'.

Now the term siddJq is widely known as the hunorary epithet of the
Khalifah Abu Bakr, and is generally understood in this sense, A
closer examination, however, of the traditional account of the
occasion on which Abu Bakr received this honorific would lead us to
a somewhat different interpretation. Tradition relates that, when
Muhammad, immediately after the famous experience of the
ascension to Heaven and the miraculous night journey to Jerusalem,
gave a detailed account of this, experience, grave doubts went aroused
in the minds of ah Muslims who were there with regard to its truth-
fulness. The only person who did not allow his faith to he shaken by
Muhammad's account was, wc are told Abu Bakr. He alone kept on
saying, while the Apostle described in detail what he had seen in
Jerusalem, 'That is true. I testify that you arc the Apostle of God.*
At the end of his account Muhammad said, 'And you, Abu Bakr,
are indeed siddiq.'

If we are to take this tradition as it is, it would follow that siddiq
does not mean 'one who speaks the truth 4 , but rather 'one who
testifies to the truth of something. 1 It does not matter very much
whether this tradition be authentic or not. It is valuable for our
present purpose in that it gives us an important key to the meaning
attached to the word stddiq in the minds of the Arabs of those days.
But the Quran itself must have something to say about it.

In the Qur*an this epithet is applied to the Virgin Mary, Abraham,
Joseph, and more generally to all true believers.

The Messiah, son of Mary, was no more than an Apostle, just like
other Apostles who had passed away before him. And his mother

The hbtmixalion of Old Arab Virtues

was [simply] a siddtqah (fem, form of siddtq). They both ate
[ordinary] food, (V, 79/75)

The purport of this passage is to deprive Jesus and his mother, the
Virgin Mary, of the halo of sanctity which is essentially incompatible
with the idea of the absolute Oneness of God, and to declare that they
both were no more than simple mortals who at* food like other mor-
tals. The only point in which they differed from common people
was that Jesus was one of the Apostles of God, and Mary was an
eminently virtuous woman. An to the exact meaning in which we
should understand the word fiddiquh the context affords practically
no explanation. We are left embarrassingly at liberty to interpret it in
terms of truth-speaking, trustworthiness, or honesty.

'Joseph, thou siddvq 1 . Give us your opinion on [the strange dream]
... so that 1 may return to the people and let them know the
truth.' (XII, 46)

Usually it is taken for granted that the word \idtliq in this passage
means 'veracious'. Is the word meant to refer to the previous ex-
perience of the speaker — to the fact that the interpretation of a dream
concerning his future course of life, which Joseph had given Jiim,
really came true— so that it denotes a 'man who spoke the truth'?
Or does it, more generally, mean the quality of veradousness itself?
Or, again does it mean 'trustworthy'? At all events there remains
considerable uncertainty about the real meaning of the word.

The following example, which concerns Abraham, is of particular
importance scmantically, for the whole passage forms, as it were, a
very detailed explanation of why he came to be called a siddtq. True,
it is not a real verbal definition, but at least it gives us a clue as to
what kind of conduct entitled one to this honorific

And mention in this Book [i.e. Quran] the affair of Abraham ;
verily, he was a giddfq, a Prophet.

He said to his father, ' my father, why dost thou worship that
which can neither hear nor see nor avail thee aught? my father,
I have received knowledge such as thou hast not received yet. So
follow me, and I will guide thee to a straight path. . , , O my
father, worship not Satan ; verily, Satan has ever been rebellious
against the Merciful God. O my father, verily, I fear that there
may smite thee some chastisement from the Merciful God, so
that thou shouldst become a client of Satan,' He [father] said,
'What! art thou averse from my Gods, Abraham? Stop, or surely
I shall have to stone thee to death. Rather, depart from me for a
while.'
He [Abraham] said, 'Fare thee well, then! 1 will ask forgiveness

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

for thee from my Lend; verily He has ever been benevolent to me.
I will gr> away from you and all these tilings [i,e> idols] that you
pray apart from Gnd, My Lord I will pray, In prayiug [only] to
my Lord I think I shall never be unfortunate.' (XIX, 42-49/41-48)

Here we see Abraham described as a determined champion for
monotheism against the surrounding forces of idolatrous polytheism ;
A zealous and fearless believer in God, who remains loyal to the last
to his religion, even if he is forced thereby to part with his own father
and be condemned to exile. Such is a man who is fully entitled to
the name of siddiq. It will be clear that this passage helps us a step
forward in understanding the semantic core of the word. In the nest
example the same word, presumably with the same meaning, is
applied to true believers in general. It should be noticed as a fart of
particular relevance that the siddtq are here opposed to the kafir*

Those who believe in God and His Apostles, they are the dd&qun

(ph of iiddiq) and the [true] witnesses in the view of their Lord;
for them is an appropriate reward and they have their light. Those,
on the contrary, who have shown themselves Kafirs and cried lies
to Our signs, they are the inhabitants of Hell, (LYII, 18/19)

The last two passages would seem to suggest that the word siddiq,
at least in the Qur'anie contest, means a zealous persevering believer
who remains unswervingly faithful to his monotheistic belief in God
whatever happens, rather than a man who always speaks truth.

In the saying of AbO Baler quoted above (p, 70,1} we saw sidq
opposed to kudhib and, through this latter, to Ithiyowk {'treacher-
ousnesa'). Now if sidq, in the sense of remaining unswervingly true
to one's promise, oath, treaty, covenant, and the like,, constitutes
such a high moral quality, it is only natural that its opposite, Wtiydnah
should be considered one of the most sinful qualities m»n can ever
possess. In Islam no less tiian in Jaliilryah the act of treachery was an
atrocious sin, and a man qualified by such a property was abhorred
as a viper.

If thou fearest treachery (kkiyimak) from any folk [with whom
thou art in treaty], then throw it back to them [i.e, dissolve the
treaty without compunction] in fairness. For verily, God loves not

the treacherous (ktta^imn, pi. of khtiHn, lit. 'those who are prone to
kkiySmh'). (VIII, 60/58)

In the following passage in which the integrity of Joseph is con-
fessed through the very lips of the wife of the Egyptian Governor,
we see tthdr'itt 'treacherous' standing significantly in opposition to
stidiq, a fact which, by the way, goes to confirm the view that stidiq

The Isiamisaiiim of Old Arab Virtues

in this context means a man who remains loyal and true to the cove-
nant between master and servant

Said the wife of the Governor, 'At last the truth {baqq) is out!
Yes, it is I who tempted him. He [Joseph] is surely a sadiq'
[Then said Joseph,] l [AU this has happened] in order that he [my
master, the Egyptian Governor] may know that I betrayed
(khdna, verbal form corresponding to khiyatwk) him not behind his
back, and that God guides not the evil design of the khu^m'
(XII, 51-52)

If treachery (khiyamh) is a grave sin in the sphere of ordinary
social life, that is, in social ethics regulating the conduct of individuals
among themselves within the same Islamic community, this is
naturally much more the case in the sphere of the ethico- religious
attitude of man towards God. In other words, Ahiysttah against God
constitutes a more serious sin than hhiydaak against man. To realize
this, it will be enough to remeroher that the most characteristic type
of the khiyatsah against God is nifaq which denotes perfidy under the
cover of hypocritical faith, Unlike the above- discussed kufr which, at
least in its typical form, is not so much 'treachery' or 'betrayal 1 as
downright refusal to enter into a covenant with God, or the open
declaration of disbelief in God, mfaq is to act treacherously in the
midst of Islam, under the guise of piety.

As a matter of fact, we have already met with the concept of mfaq.
Briefly, munafiq is one who, though outwardly a pious Muslim,
remains at heart an infidel and is secretly an inexorable enemy of
God and the Prophet, We might do well to recall also that in the
passage quoted above (XXXIII, 23-24), munafiq stood in antithesis
to sadiq. Sine*, however, the topic of nifaq is so important for the
specific purpose of this book as a whole as to warrant a much more
detailed analysis, I shall leave further discussion of this problem to a
later, more suitable occasion and bring this section to a close by
simply quoting two characteristic passages which will throw further
light on the meaning of kkiyanak in the sphere of religion and faith.

Act not as a pleader for the treacherous (AfoTifliB) , , T and plead
not on behalf of those who betray {yakktdnibut, a verbal form of
fdtiyanah) themselves. Verily, God loves not anyone who is a sinful

traitor {khmutcan). (IV, 106-107/103-107)

The phrase 'who betray themselves' implies that those who act
treacherously towards God are only being treacherous to themselves,
because in the final resort their khiydttah comes back upon their own
heads. As to the word khauxvan, rendered here provisionally as

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

'traitor* we might remark that it is a mubalagknh (exaggeratjon)-
form of khtfin, denoting one who is characterised by an exceeding
degree of treacherousnesa, one who, as al-Baydawi put it, persist* in
doing arts of treachery and perfidy. It is noteworthy, moreover; that
the word is here placed in further emphasis by the addition of another
word, ath "m, 'sinful'.^

Surely God will defend those who believe* Surely God loves not
any ingrate traitor (hull khamvan kttfar). (XXII, 39/38)

Here again one who proves unfaithful to the covenant with God is
designated by the same strong term, kkmewm. But this time it is
accompanied not by 'sinful', but by a much more forcible word,
kafuT, which is an emphatic epithet derived from the root KFR t and
means 'extremely, or habitually ungrateful 1 .

There appears in the Qur'an another word for ' traitor ', which is
no less forcible than khaziKcdn : that is kkattdr, an emphatic epithet
from khatr, which means one who acts 'with the foulest perfidy,
treachery, or unfaithfulness 1 . 2 ' It is interesting to observe that this
word, too, is found in the Qur'an accompanied by kafur. The passage
in question is SOrah XXXI, 31/33, where we are reminded of certain
thankless people who, when they arc overtaken by a storm on the
sea, call on God, being utterly sincere in their piety, but as Soon as
God brings them safely to the shore, forget all about It and begin to
act inimically against God,

Hast thou not seen how the ships run upon the sea by God's
favor. .,? When waves like darkness cover then*, they pray to
God making their belief in Him quite sincere, but as soon as He
brings them safely to the shore, some amongst them become cowl
and indifferent. No one, however, could deny our signs, except
every ingrate traitor (kail kkattar kaf&r)-

The parallelism of outer structure seems to give evidence that
khattar and kkateiean, although belonging to two entirely unrelated
roots, are the nearest possible synonyms in every respect, whether
in meaning, structure, or emotive force,

I should like to add that ai-BaydawI, commenting on the word
khattar in this example, makes a very interesting remark: that it
means gkadddr i.e. the most villainous traitor, and that those who do
acts of the kind here described are called 'traitors' because the
denial of the divine signs is in the last resort an act of treachery
and unfaithfulness to religion as a 'natural covenant'. This is indeed
a valuable piece of confirmatory evidence for our argument that the

ia 'Ilia word, athlm, will be dealt with later, in Chapter XL

« E, W- Lane, An Arisbit~Ensii$h Ltxutm (Jj3t\4on h 1865-1893), IT, 701.

The Itbmsatioa of Old Arab Virtues

conceptual opposition sidq — kMyartah should be understood pri-
marily in terms of the Covenant between God and His people. Even
where there is no explicit mention of a formal covenant, the idea itself
is there, and this tends to give a very peculiar ethical coloring to the
meanings of these words.

Veracity

As I noted above %vc discern in the semantic category of sidq two
different, though closely related, aspects; veracity or truth-speaking,
and faithfulness {to one's promise, treaty, or covenant). In the latter
haif of the foregoing section, we have concentrated our attention on
the second aspect. Now it is time that wc turned to the first to see if
Islam has something peculiar to say about this old virtue of the desert.

That truth-speaking was considered an eminent virtue among the
desert Arabs in Jahrliyah will be clesr without any lengthy discussion.
It is so in all peoples, so far as 1 am aware. It is the commonest, most
ordinary sort of human virtue, and as such it does not seem to offer
any problem of particular interest. In the Quran, however, it assumes
a very remarkable peculiarity, and this point, will leap to the eye when
we approach the problem from its negative side, i.e* the sin of
lying.

We may do well to call to mind again an important point which was
casually referred to in an earlier passage: namely, that 'truth* is
fundamentally a relationship between two poles, ftdq and kaqq. As
we saw there, haqq represents the objective side of the truth, and
language can be 'true' only when it conforms to it, 'Truth' as a
subjective affair, then, consists jn using language in such a way as to
make it correspond with haqq, the reality. This, point begins to assume
a tremendous significance when we turn to the problem of truth-
Speaking in matters that concern the religious relationship between
God and man. For according to the Qur^in, the Revelation is nothing
other than kaqq, and God Himself is the absolute IJaqq. It is sig-
nificant that in either case liaqq is opposed to bHiil which means some-
thing essentially groundless, 'vanity* or 'falsehood',

God ri.e the Truth or Reality
God is the Truth, whereas what they [i.e. the idolaters] call upon
apart from Him is nothing but unreality (bafil). (XXII, 61/63;
see also XXXI, 29/30)

B0l in this passage clearly refers to the idols which the pagan Arabs
worshipped alongside of Allah. And since idols are, in the Quranic
view, nothing but an absurd invention of the 'human caprice', a
groundless fable, mere names, it will be evident that by the 'Truth'

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethic*

(A#^} is meant something pre-eminently real, a living force which is
operating in the very process, of life and death in the world of exist-
ence. This point is brought out particularly well by the following
example in which, through a very detailed description of the process
whereby each one of the human beings is created from dust and
grows up from a drop of congealed blood into a well-shaped infant,
it is suggested that the same God who has the power of creating man
from nothingness has also the power of causing the final resurrection,

M this [wonderful process of creation] is possible because God ft
the Truth, and is [able to] bring the lifeless to life, and is able to
do everything. (XXII, 6)

In the next example, too, the omnipotence of God in administering
human affairs is greatly emphasized, and is made the evidence of
His being really the Real, The quality of reality in God, in other
words, is grasped chiefly in terms of His grand creative activity.

Say, 'Who furnishes you with your provision from heaven and
earth? Who can really hear and really see? Who brings forth the
living from the lifeless and the lifeless from the living? Who
administers all these affairs?' They will reply, 'It is God,'
Then say at once, ' Are you not afraid [of Him]? Lo ! such is God,
your Lord, the Truth. And what is there beyond truth, but
error?' (X, 32-33/31-32)

RevtlaUon as the Truth or Reality

They [i.e. the disbelievers] say : ' He [Muhammad] is only possessed
by a devil.' Nay, but he has brought them the Truth (h<t$q), but
most of them dislike the Truth. And had the Truth followed their

caprices, the heavens and the earth and all those who are therein
would have surely been corrupted. (XXIII, 72-73/70-71)

Verse 72 refers to the fact that the Prophet, parti CD iarly at the
outset of his career, was often regarded by his compatriots as a sort
of madman, majttutt — literally, a man attacked and possessed by a
jinn or invisible spirit, of whose essence Muhammad himself did
not doubt. The passage denies this emphatically and declares that
Muhammad, far from being a msjntht, is a Prophet of God, who has
brought the divine message, which is the 'Truth'. In a similar way,
this 'Truth' was often reviled and laughed at as sheer 'magic 1 , sikr.

The Kafirs, when the Truth reaches them, say of it, 'This is naught
but sheer magic/ (XXXIV, 42/43)

Before the tenacious, vigorous onslaught of the Kafirs, even
Muhammad, so it appears, had to waver sometimes; arid tradition

The Idamizatmn. »f Old Arab Virtuet

tells us that he, particularly at the beginning of his prophetic career
was sometimes driven into anxiety and doubt as to the real source
of the mysterious voice whieh dictated to him the messages to deliver.
In the two following passages God Himself assures Muhammad of
the ncvcr-to-bc-doubtcd Truth-quality of the divine message.

[This is] the Truth from thy T-ord, so he thou never of those who
doubt and waver, (III, 53/60)

Those unto whom We gave the Scripture [i.e. the Jewish people
who know what Revelation is] recognize it [the Qur'an] as they
recognize their own sona. And yet, a party of them conceal the
Truth knowingly. [This is] the Truth from thy Lord, so be thou

not of those who doubt and waver. (II, 141—142^46-147}

Islam as the Truth

If the revelation that came through the mouthpiece of the
Prophet is the Truth, then it follows naturally that Islam, the religion
based on this revelation, is also the Truth, In this sense, too, the
word huqq is constantly used in opposition to bufil.

Say, ' Is there amongst your associates [i.e. the idols whom you
worship alongside of Allah in the capacity of His associates] any
that guides you to the Truth?*

Bay, ' It is God [alone] who guides to the Truth. Is He who guides
to the Truth worthier to be followed, or he who guides not unless
he himself is guided? What is the matter with you then? How
do you judge?' (X, 30/35)

Say, 'The Truth has come and Falsehood has vanished. Surely

Falsehood is ever bound to vanish'. (XVII, 83/81)

The upshot of all this is that a particular sacrosanetity is attributed in
the Qur'an to the word 'Truth', haqq, and, consequently, all use of
language which contradicts it in any way is considered to be glaring
blasphemy against Cod and His religion. It is not at all surprising,
then, that we find kadhib, 'falsehood' or 'lying', ulked of in the
Qur'an as a heinous sin. It constitutes one of the must salient features
of a Kafir.

Now kadkib, as such a blasphemous attitude towards God, mani-
fests itself mainly in two different ways. In the first place, it manifests
itself as an open a*t of lying on the part of man, concerning God and
His revelation. Secondly, it may tale the form of 'giving God the
lie*. The Qur'anic word for the Bret kind is iftird' {at-kadfiib) 'forging
(a lie)', and the second is designated by takdhib which means
literally 'to declare something a lie\

From Tribal Cade to Islamic Ethics

Tahdfnbf as the name itself suggests, is a flat denial of the divine
revelation, refusal to accept the Truth when it is sent down, with an
additional element of mockery and acorn. In other words, tahdhW in
the Quranic context denotes the character istic attitude of those
stubborn unbelievers who persist in their refusal to accept the rcireJa-
li'.-Li as really coming from Cod, and never cease to laugh at it as
mere old folks' tales.

Whenever a sign of their Lord comes to them they turn away
from it. They [always] cried lies {fmdkdhabii} to the Truth {haqq)
when it came to them. But [before long] there shall come to them
news of that which they were laughing at [i.e. the announcement
of the terrible divine punishment]. (VI, 4-5)

The phrase 'that which they were laughing at (yastaksi^ma)'
describes, as is evident, the same thing as the phrase L they cried lies
to', and thus throws a strong light on the mental attitude underlying
the act of takdhtb. Ittiksd' or * mockery 1 is the fundamental state of
mind of those who deny the revealed Truth.

As to rjflmf 'forging' we may observe that, if takdktb is the act of
downright blasphemy against God, 'forging' is a more subtle kind of
ungodliness consisting as it does in inventing groundless fables and
pretending that they came from a divine source* Jftird' is the word
for such an act of forgery. It is a verb and is usually accompanied by
the word kadhib as its ' direct object'. Those who commit iftirs' do
in fact no smaller wrong than those who flatly deny God's signs, for
it is plain that they are attempting thereby to forge 'divine' signs
themselves. So it is no surprise to us to find that the act of ijttFif is
condemned and censured in the Qur'In in exactly the same terms as
takdh®.

What, concretely, is meant in the Qur'an by iftira J } The answer
varies according to the specific contest But there can be no doubt
that the most representative kinds of ifttid* are idolatry and the
''sacred 9 customs connected with the idolatrous worship of Jahiliyah.

Verily, those who toot [to themselves] the Calf, wrath shall come
upon them from their Lord and abasement [even] in the life of this
present world, for such is the reward We confer upon those who
forge {muftarm, pi. of muftari T he who is addicted to iftirjp},
(VII, 151/152)

This is said in reference to Moses' folk who, in his absence, made a
golden calf and began to worship this idol instead of God. It is
clear that the word mufiarin denotes the idol-worshippers. From the
point of view of Islam, idolatry is an obvious form of the 'forging
of a lie *, because it means inventing out of sheer fantasy strange beings

100

The Islamization of Old Arab Virtues

and attributing to them reality quite arbitrarily, when, in truth,
'reality' belongs to God alone. The same word ntuftari appears in
the following passage with exactly the same meaning.

And unto the people of c Ad [We sent] their brother [i,e. ooe of
their fellow-countrymen] Hud. He said, ' O my people, worship
God, You have no other god save Him. Verily, you are only
mufiarun.' (XI, 52/50)

As is well known, life in Jahiliyah was regulated by an elaborate
and intricate system of taboos that were prescribed by traditional
customs. *This is karam (forbidden), and this is kalal (lawful).'
And this system of hardm^halal was imposed upon all men as
something sacrosanct. For Islam, this of course constituted an
unmistakable case of forgery against God, for He alone is really
entitled to the authority of enjoining upon men any rules of conduct
in the name of religion. Thus it comes about that in the Qur'an
the 'sacred* customs of Jahiliyah are frequently condemned in the
strongest terms as being q forged lies' against God,

You should not say of the lie (hadhify which your own tongues
describe, ' This is lawful, and this is forbidden,' This is to forge
a lie against God, Verily, those who forge against God a lie shall
not prosper. (XVI, n 7/ 11 6)

They [i.e. the idolaters] pretend, 'These cattle and tilth are
sacrosanct; none shall eat thereof, save such as we please 3 — so
they pretend — 'and cattle there are whose backs are forbidden, and
cattle over which the name of God is not to be mentioned.' All
this is forgery (iftira*) against God. He will surely reward them
for what they have forged. (VI, 130/138)

Sometimes sorcery is also called iftiriP. The example which follows
refers to the act of the sorcerers of Egypt who, in the presence of
Pharaoh, wished to compete with Moses in the art of sorcery,

Moses said unto them, 'Woe unto you] Forge not a lie against
God, lest He destroy you with punishment. All those who have
forged have ever failed.* (XX, 63-64/61)

In any case, iftiri? — and so too, tokdhtb, which appears in the text

just before it — Constitutes in the Qur^anic conception one of the most
conspicuous features of the Kafirs, and as such it will be dealt with
more fully later when we come to the problem of the concept of kufr
itself.

Patience

Sabr, 'patience', 'steadfastness', or 'endurance', was a prominent
virtue in desert conditions in the days of Jahiliyah. It was part of the

1 01

Ftcm Tribal Cadi t& hlamic Etkks

shaj£ah, 'courage', which I have described, or rattier it was an essen-
tial ingredient of it. In the desert where (he conditions of living were
90 harsh, every man was constancy required to show extraordinary
patience and endurance, if only for his mere existence and for the
subsistence of his tribe. Physical strength was of course necessary,
but it was not enough ; it had to be hacked up by something coming
from within, namely patience, the inflexible determination to stand
by one's cause wliatever might happen.

Semantical!}', the word is the exact opposite nfjasd 1 which means
the property of those who cannot bear patiently what befalls them and
are quick to manifest violent agitation; this implies that sabr itself
means having sufficient Strength of soul to remain patient under
adversity and suffering and to persevere amidst all the difficulties in
championing one's own cajse, 1J Tt will be easily seen that sabr was a
representative manly virtue of the warrior on the battlefield, "There
could be no courage without the virtue of sabr.

This old nomadic virtue, too, Islam transformed into a one of its
cardinal virtues by furnishing it with a definite religious direction I
'patience in the way of God'.

As in the days of Jahiliyah, to begin with, sabr was enjoined upon
the believers on the battlefield when, fighting against the Kafirs,

Those [in the camp of David] who believed that they were to meet
God aaid, L How often a small host has overcome a mighty host by
God's Icarve ! God is always- with the patient (sabirltt, participle
pi.}.' And when they went forth against Goliath and his hosts they
aaid, "Our Lord, pour out upon us patience (sabr), and mate our
feet sure, and help us against the Kafirs!' (tt, 250-251/249-450)

With how many a Prophet have myriads fought; they never gaivc
way at what befell them tn God's way, nor did they weaken, nor
did they humble the nisei v es. God loves the patient {sabirin).

(Ill, 140/1+6)

Such soldierly "patience* develops quite naturally into the spirit
of martyrdom, that is, the moral strength to undergo with amazing
heroism death or any other torment for the sate of one's faith. In the
following passage, the magicians of Pharaoh declare their fixed
determination to remain faithful to Moses' God even if they have to
suffer the moat atrocious torture,

Pharaoh said, 'You have believed in Him before I permitted you
to, . . . You shall smart for it. I shall surely cut off your hands and

iJ [n Sarah XEV, 2j/n, we find tbesc two properties Jiei against each nthsr.
The wond» are suppM*d ta be aaid by the tCsflis who jjotu Hell on the Last- Day:
1 tt ■* all the same 1st us [nowl iE "=e get impatient ij'mi'iw) or if we tit patient

(fabonia}, i*e h*v* run escape.'

102

Tht IslamimatUm of Old Arab Virtvet

feet on opposite sides. After that I shall crucify you all together.'
They said, 'Verily, we turn unto our Lord. Thou dost take ven-
geance on us only because we have believed in the signs of our
Lord when they came to us. Our Lord, pour out upon us patience
{sabr), and receive qs unto Thee in the state of Surrender.*
(muslimin, lit, as those who have surrendered) {VII, 120-123/
133-126)

It should be noticed that here the virtue of 'patience' is made to

Stand in a manifest semantic relation to itiam which we shall discuss
presently. And a few lines down, we see the same * patience ' standing
in an equally close relation to iaqtod ' fear of God '.

Moses said unto his people, ' Solicit help from God, and be patient
(isbitu). Verily, the whole earth is God's, and He gives it for an
inheritance to whom He likes among His servants. The ultimate
[felicity] will fall to the lot of the godfearing (muttaqin), * (VII,

125/128)

The torment which the believers have to suffer is not in any way
restricted to physical pairs; it may also take the form of sneering,
derision, and abuse on the part of the Kafirs. In this sense, the
takdfub which wc mentioned in the preceding section and all the
marts of the overbearing haughtiness which as we saw in the preced-
ing chapter, characterize the disbelievers, may be regarded as so
many calamities falling on the believers and calling forth the spirit of
martyrdom.

Apostles before thee were also cried lies to. But, they proved
patient (sabarH) of being cried lies to and of being hurt, until
Our help came unto them. (VI, 34)

Bear thou [Muhammad] with patience {isbir} what they say against
thee, and try to avoid [collision with] them graciously. Leave Me
to deal with those who cry lie* {mvkadhdkibm), lords of prosperity
in this world, and do thou respite them for a while. (LXXIU,
10-11)

[God will say, on the Day of Judgment, to the Kafirs in Gehenna],
'Verily, there was a party of My servants who used to say, "Our
lord, we believe (SituttinS), so forgive us, and have mercy upon us,
for Thou art the best of the merciful ones." You, however, toot
them for mockery, and in laughing at them you forgot My re-
membrance. This day I have recompensed them for their patience
(W-jm? jfl&rt'ii, lit. for that they endured patiently). Now they are
the happy people." (XXIIl, iii-irj/rotr-in)

ro 3

From Tribal Cadi tin Islamic Ethiet

Thus ' patience' comes to represent an essentia] aspect of the genu-
ine 'belief, iman t in God. 'Patience' is that particular aspect of
'belief which it shows when it finds itself in unfavorable conditions.
And this, we must remember, was actually the cast with Islam in
the first period of its history. Living as they did in the midst of the
Kafirs and surrounded by all sorts of worldly temptations, the
believers were forced to assume the attitude of deter, mined resistance,
It is to this inflexible determination to persist in the genuine faith
in the face of unrelenting attacks of the enemy that the term $ebf
refers specifically, The point will come out must dearly in the
following examples :

Be thou patient {if&ir) whatever they [the Kafirs] say, and celebrate
the praise of thy Lord before the rising of the sun and before the
setting; in the night, too, do thou celebrate the praise of thy Lord.
(L- 38/39)

Keep thyself patient (ifbit na/ioka, here the verb sctbura is used
transitively) in company with thusc who call upon their Lord
morning and evening, desiring His countenance. Let not thine
eyes be turned away from them, desiring the pomp of the life of
this world .(XVII rf 27/23)

O you who believe, seek [God's] help in patience (fdfrr) and prayer.
Verily, God is with the patient {sabirtn, part, pL), , . , We may
try you with something of fear, hunger, and loss of wealth and
lives and fruits, but give thou [Muhammad] glad tidings to the
patient (submit), who say, whenever there befalls them a mis-
fortune, "Verily, we belong to God, Verily, unto Him do we re-
turn.' (II, 148-151/153-156)

The preceding account does not in any way pretend to exhaust
the pre- Islamic moral ideas taken up by Islam and assimilated into
the new conception of morality. But at least it gives the most remark-
able examples, and shows us how the Ishmization of non-Islamic
elements was accomplished at this earliest period. In its long sub-
sequent history Islam will have to pass through a similar process
several times at a number of different levels of culture, when it will
be faced with the problem of settling accounts with ideas of Greek,
Persian, and Indian origins, and still later, with modern Western
concepts.

104

VI. The Basic Moral
Dichotomy

Say, 'Listen, Kafirsl I worship not what you worship.

You are not worshipping what I worship.
I am not worshipping what you worship.
Hot will you worship what I worship.
To you your religion, and to me my religion!'

(ClXj i-6, the whole Surah)

These words mark jn a dramatic way the most rapjcal ukiLaii
with the surrounding polytheism, to which Islam was led by its
fundamental attitude in religious matters. This was, 30 to speak, the
formal declaration of independence on the part of Islam from all
that was essentially incompatible with the monotheistic belief which
it proclaimed. In the domain of ethical practiees, this declaration of
independence involved a grave consequence. It suggested that
henceforward all human values were to be measured by an absolutely
reliable standard of evaluation.

The Quranic outlook divides all human qualities into two radi-
cally opposed categories, which — in view of the fact that they are too
concrete and semantically too pregnant to be called 'good' and 'bad 1 ,
or 'right* and 'wrong' — we might simply call the class of positive
moral properties and the class of negative moral properties, respec-
tively. The final yardstick by which this division is carried out is the
belief in the one and only God, the Creator of all beings. In fact,
throughout the Qur'an there runs the keynote of dualism regard-
ing the moral values of man: the basic dualism of believer and un-
believer. In this sense, the ethical system of Islam is of a very simple
structure, For by the ultimate yardstick of ' belief* one can easily

105

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

decide to which of the two categories a given person or a given act
belongs.

The significance of this fact, however, was very great for the moral
development of the Arabs, because it meant the first appearance of
moral principle which was consistent enough to deserve: the name of
'principle*. A whole practical code of conduct, though as yet largely
unsystematic, was imposed upon the believer, the moment he truly
believed in the oneness of God and the truth of the prophetic message.
As I remarked earlier, this was ah unprecedented event in the spiritual
history of the Arabs. In jShiliyah there were, as we have seen, a
number of recognized moral values. But they were just there as
membra disjecta, without any definite underlying principle to support
them; they were based almost exclusively on an irrational sort of
moral emotion, or rather, a blind and violent passion for the mode of
life that had been handed down from generation to generation as a
priceless tribal asset. Islam made it possible for the first time for the
Arabs to judge and evaluate all human conduct with reference to a
theoretically justifiable moral principle.

The basic dichotomy of moral properties to which 1 have just
referred, appears in the Quranic verses in a number of different
forms.. It may, to begin with, assume the form of an essential opposi-
tion of k&ftr and wi'bb's 'believer'.

It is He who created you , But one of you is a kajir t and one of you
is a ■mii'min. God sees everything you do. (LXIV, 2)

Those who disbelieve {kafaru, a verbal form corresponding to
kdfir) and turn men away from the way of God, He will surely
make all their works vain and futile.

Those, on the contrary, who believe (smnnw, verbal form cor-
responding to rnifmn) and do good works and believe in what is
revealed unto Muhammad inasmuch as it is the Truth from their
Lord, He will surely remit from them their ill-deeds and improve
their minds. All this is because those who disbelieve {hafaru)
have adopted falsehood (ftsfl'J) whereas those who believe {amanS)
have adopted the Truth (fyaqq) from their Lord. (XLVII. 1-3)

It may also take the form of an opposition of kajir and mtttt&qi

"■godfearing 1 . The religious meaning of 'fear' of God (taqwd) in
Islam was elucidated earlier.

Verily, this Qur'Sn is a reminder to the muliaqm (pi, of muttaqt),
but We know that there are amongst yon wine who cry lies to it.
Verily, it is a caiuse of sorrow to the hafirin (pi. afkafrr), although
in reality it is the absolute Truth. (LXIX, 4&-51)

106

The Bade Moral Dichotomy

Or it may take the form of an opposition of tnustim, *he who has
surrendered', and mujrim t 'sinful' or 'guilty'.

Shall We treat the muslimfa in the same way as the mujrimjit?
(LXVIII, 35)

Or, as an opposition of dail, ' he who goc3 astray, errs*, and tmiktadi,
'he who is guided, who goes the right way'.

Verily, thy Lord knows best who goes astray from His way, as He
knows best those who are guided. {LIII, 31/30)

Or again, the 4 positive' side may be called 'the Companions of
Paradise' or 'the Fellows of the Right 5 and the 'negative 1 side 'the
Companions of Hell' or 'the Fellows of the Left',

Not equal arc the Fellows of the Fire and the Fellows of Paradise.
The Fellows of Paradise, they alone are the blissful. (L1X, 20)

As we shall sec later* this fundamental dichotomy of human pro-
perties appears in still other forms. But they arc all rather marginal
variations within the bounds of the essential opposition of belief
and unbelief; the most basic fact remains always the same.

Sometimes, the Qur'an seems to divide men into not two but three
classes, recognizing an intermediate state fluctuating between both
ends. This unstable middle ground where belief and unbelief overlap

and fuse, is formed by those- who remain very lukewarm in their
faith although they have formally accepted Islam and become
Muslims.

We conferred the Book [of Revelation] as an inheritance uptn] those
whom We chose of Our servants. But of them some there are who
wrong themselves [by rejecting it and crying lies to it], and of them
are some who are lukewarm [though they have accepted it out-
wardly], and, again there are some who vie in good works by the
leave of God. (XXXV, 20/32)

We should remark that it was mostly the nomadic Arabs of the
desert that formed this middle class, though of course there were
among them city-dwellers, too, people who remained lukewarm and
always wavering between belief and hitfr. 'L'Arabe', says Dozy,
' n'est pas religieux de sa nature, et, sous ce rapport, il y a cntrc ]ui
et les autres peuplcs qui ont udoptc l'islamisme une enorme differ-
ence, , . , Voyez les Bedouins d'aujourd 'hui ! Quoique musulmarts de
nom, ils se smicfent m^diocrement des preceptes de l'islamisme. . . ,
En tout temps, il a &e extremement difficile de vaincre chez les
Bedouins Jeur tiedcur pour la religion/ 1 The Qur'an itself attests to

107

From Tribal Cade to hUmk Ethics

this. In a remarkable passage (XLIX, 14—15)1 where the basic differ-
ence between mtfmin 'believer 3 and musHm is brought out most
clearly, it is declared that the Bedouins who have accepted Islam arc
not to be regarded, in virtue of that fact alone, as having become
wiirWn in the true sense of the word.

It must be admitted, nevertheless, that, Sernantically at least the
class of such doubtful Muslims is after all hut a horderiine case,
whose value is to be deter mined in terms of either the one extreme
or the other of the common scale running from true belief to down-
right unbelief. The existence of those lukewarm believers in a great
number was no doubt a tough practical problem for Muhammad
himself to solve, but there can be no doubt that they did not con-
stitute in any way an independent category. In the eyes of Muham-
mad, they were in the last resort a variation of the positive class.
They represented, in other words, an imperfect type of the believer;
very imperfect, and yet believers in the sense that they obeyed — at
least outwardly — God and His Apostle; and, as such, they were not
to be denied the reward of their deeds.

Before we bunch into a detailed analysis of the words standing
for the most representative ethico-religious properties, both positive
and negative, which are recognized as such in the Qur'an, perhaps
we may do well to make a more general survey of the characteristic
features of the two fundamental types of man formed by various
combinations of these properties. In plainer language we might
formulate our problem by asking what, according to the teaching
of the Quran, a man should do in order to win the reward of Paradise,
and what Dnes of conduct arc characteristic of those who are bound to
go to Hell. What is the ideal type of the believer, and what are the
representative features of an infidel? By analyzing some of the relevant
passages, we may hope to isolate the principal ethico-religious
categories. We shall,, at the same time, remark that the ethico-
religious system of the Qur'In is, very broadly speaking, based on the
conception of cschatology. In other words, the ethics of the present
world is not simply there as a self-sufficing system ; on the contrary,
its structure is most profoundly determined by the ultimate (eschato-
logical) end to which the present world (al-dimyd) is destined. In the
Islamic system the thought— or rather the vivid image — of the
1 lereaftCT should behave as the highest moral principle of conduct.

The Companions of Paradise

In Surah LXX, 32-35, there is given a detailed description of those
conditions, the fulfilment of which is deemed strictly necessary if
one desires really to be in the number of 'those who will be allowed

10S

The Basic Mowl Dichotomy

to live in Heavenly Gardens, high-honored '. There it is stated that
the reward of Paradise is promised only to those worshippers (1)
who remain constant at their prayers and observe them well (w. 23,
34), (3) in whose wealth there is an acknowledged portion for the
heggar and the destitute (v, 24-25), (3) who believe the Day of Judg-
ment to be true (v. z6), (4) who are fearful of the chastisement of
their \Atd (v. 37), (5) who guard their pudenda (v. 29), (6) who
Veep faithfully their trust* and their covenant (v, jz), and (7) who
give right testimonies {v. 33),

Thus this passage enumerates as the conditions necessary for win-
ning the approval of God, constant and devout worship, almsgiving,
eschatological belief in the final Judgment, fear of God, sexual
continence, faithfulness, and truthfulness. The first two items
chiefly concern ritual ; they are destined to develop later into two
statutory duties of Islam, and to constitute, together with fasting,
pilgrimage, and the profession of faith in the oneness of God, the
so-called five Ti liars {orkan) of faith. The third and fourth items
concern directly the central notion of 'fear' of which I have already
given a detailed account. The sixth and seventh have also been fully
discussed in Chapter V under the heading of sidq.

Surah XIII, 30-33 g' ves a list of Islamic virtues which is sub-
stantially the same as the preceding one. Here is the whole passage in
translation.

Those who fulfil the covenant with God, and break not the compact ;
who join what God has bidden to be joined ; and dread their l,ord
and fear the evil reckoning; who remain patient, craving their
Lord's countenance; and perform the prayer; and expend [in
alms] of what We have provided them secretly and openly; and
ward off evil with good~-these shall have the recompense of the
[eternal] abode, Gardens of liden which they shall enter. (Xllf,
20-23)

It is to be noticed that this second list adds 'patience' {sabr), which
we have considered in the preceding chapter, to the items enumerated
in the first passage. Patience is also given a place in the following list
of the Islamic virtues which go to constitute the ideal type of Muslim:
(1) Those who have surrendered, men and women alike (mutlm),
(3) those who believe, men and women alike (mu i mitt), (3) those who
are truthful, men and women alike (sadiq), (4.) those who are patient,
men and women alike (sdbir), (5) those who are humble, men and
women alike {khashi 7 }, (6) those who give alms willingly, men and
women alike [mutasaddiq), (7) those who are punctilious in fasting,
men and women alike {f&im}, (8) those who guard their pudenda,
men and women alike (hdfi? al-fttriij), (9) those who remember God

109

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

constantly, men and women alike (dhdhir Allah) : for them God has
prepared forgiveness and a great reward. {XXXIII, 35)

Thankfulness {shitkr) and repentance {tawbah) must also be added
to this list if we are to make it more complete. These two elements
are made particularly prominent in the nest quotation from the
Quran, which purports expressly to give an account of the char-
acteristic features uf tine 'Companions of Paradise'. In this passage
every true believer, when he reaches forty years, is charged to address
his Lord with the following words;

'My Lord, arouse me that I may be thankful (atkkura from skukr)
for Thy favor wherewith Thou has favored me and my parents,
and that I may do good works that shall please Thee. Be Thou
gracious unto me as regards my offspring. Lo, I have turned
[repentant] unto Thee (iubtu, from the same root as ttrwbah)- Lot
I am of those who have surrendered [muslimm) ! — Those axe 'hey
from whom We accept the best part of what they have done, and
overlook their evil deeds. They arc amongst the Companions of
Paradise.' (XLVI, 14-15/ 15-16)

The first of these two, "thankfulness', skukr, has already been
considered in Chapter [V, It will come up again for consideration
in the following chapter. As to the second element, 'repentance' or
' penitence', tatabuh, we might remark first of all that it is, as it were,
a human Counterpart of God's unfathomable mercy. God, although
He is the terrible T»rd of the judgment Day, the most unyielding
avenger of all evils done, is at the same time an infinitely merciful,
and forgiving God, Throughout the Quran it is constantly emphasized
that 'God turns {yaiubti, from, the same root as tatoimh) towards
whom He will. Verily, God is most forgiving (ghafur), most merciful
{rahim)V (IX, -27). It is interesting to observe that the same word,
tatxibahf means 'repentance* on the part nf man, and 'forgiveness" on
the part of God. Man 'turns' towards God in repentance, and God
'turns' towards man with I lis grace. There is clearly a correlative
relationship of 'turning' between God and man, and this is reflected
in the semantic behavior of the word latcvak.

God's limitless goodness and gTacu extend even to tlio.se faithless
who have fallen into the temptation to commit the must heinous
sin against God, the sin of idolatry, provided that they repent of
their evil ways and return to the faith, Thus, speaking of the people
of Moses who worshipped the idol of the Golden. Calf, it is said :

Verily, those who took [to themselves] the Calf, wrath shall Come
upon them from their Ijord [even] in the life of this present world,
for such is the reward We confer upon those who forge (muftarin).

iro

The Basic Moral Dichotomy

Those, however, who have done evil deeds, but repent {tabu)
thereafter and have faith {amam), verily, thy Lord thereafter is
Merciful, (VIT T 151-152/152-153)

So all believers are strongly enjoined to turn to God in sincere
repentance. It may be that God will forgive them their previous sins,
committed consciously or unconsciously, A truly repentant heart
merits even the reward of Paradise,

O believers, turn {tubu) unto God in sincere repentance (tawbatan
txtfOium). It may be that your Lord will remit from you your evil
deeds and let you enter gardens with rivers flowing underneath.
(LXVI, 8)

The emphatic form from the same root, tawwab is used very often.
When applied to a man, it means 'one who repents very often 1 ;
when applied to Gud, it naturally means 'He Who is wont to turn to
sinners in forgiveness, Who reverts very often from wrath to grace.'
Atvtedb is another word for one who repents frequently. This is the
emphatic form from AWB which literally means 'to return'. He who
repents his sin 'returns' from his sin unto God, Unlike tawtodb, this
word is not applied to God in the sense of ' forgiving'. Atcwab appears
in the following passage.

[Upon the Day of Judgment] Paradise shall be brought nigh to the
godfearing; [it will be there, before their very eyes,] not far off.
"This is what you were promised; [it isj for all heedful ones who
have returned very often {atmaab).'

He who fears the Merciful God and brings a repentant (mumb)
heart: 'Enter it [i.e. Paradise] in peace! This is the day of im-
mortality,' (L, 30-33/31-34)

In this quotation we find one more word with approximately the
same meaning, muntb, This is the participial form of the verb anaba
meaning l to return unto God repentant' with an additional implica-
tion of ' from time to time', the original meaning of the root (accord-
ing to the Arab lexicographers) being tliat of 'doing Something by
turns' or 'conning to someone rime after time 1 .

The Companions of Hell

Having seen the main qualities which go to form the Islamic virtue
worthy of the reward of Paradise, it is no longer a difficult matter to
guess the general features characteristic of those who will be thrown
into Hell, 'the Fellows of the Left', as they are sometimes called.

The Fellows of the Left— -alas the Fellows of the Left I— in the

midst of burning, poisonous winds and boiling waters, under the

From Tribal Code to Islamic Ethics

shadow of a choking iraoh, which, though it is a shadow, is neither
cool nor beneficent. (LVI, 40-43/41-44)

The Companions of Hell are those who are not qualified uy any of
the ' positive ' properties, or are even marked by some of the char-
acteristics that are the exact opposites of these good qualities. It
goes Without Saying that the Kafirs go at the head of this gTand pro-
cession, marching towards Jakamian; (Gehenna),

For those who nevea! themselves ungrateful (kitfarii) to their Lord,
there is the torment of Gehenna — an evil end of the journey,
indeed! (LXVI 1,6)

The Kafirs are thrown into the Fire as the just reward for their
fufiiq, that is, for their had conduct in the present world against the
commandments of God,

On the day [of the Last Judgment] when the Kafirs shall be exposed
to the Fire: 'You squandered your good things in your earthly
life and found enjoyment in them. Wherefore this day you are

recompensed with a humiliating chastisement for that you grew
arrogant in the earth without any right, and for that you trans-
gressed {tajivquna from the same root as/suwj).' (XLVI, 19/20)

There participate in this procession to Hdl all those who are related
in Some way or other with the Kafirs, that is, those who embody and
represent any of the many distinguishable aspects of kufr. Here I give
a few quotations in which some of the 'negative* properties are ex-
plicitly brought into connection with the chastisement of the Fire.

'Ihere are those who are characterized by takdlnb, 'giving [God]
the he 1 , which I have mentioned in the last eliapter.

'Then lo! you who go astray and cry lies, {muitadhdhiban, pL
participial form of tahdhib) you shall eat of a tree of Zaqqttm, 1
and you shall fill your bellies with it and drink thereon the boiling
water, drinking like thirsty camels. 1 This shall be their entertain-
ment on the Day of Judgment. (LVL, 51-56)

Upon the day when the heavenly vault will swing from side to
side, and the mountains will be moved from their places, woe that
day unto the mukadhdhibtn who arc now bathing joyously in the
submerging floods [of vain discourse about t^od], the day when
they shall be hurled into the fire of Gehenna, q This is the fire that
you used to cry lies to {tukadhdhibutia}. Say, is (his a piece of magic?
Or have you not eyes to see? Roast well in it. Whether you endure

3 The name of » tnonntreius true which is foiLtid it the bottom of Hell, wheat

fln^crs arc said to be the heads of demons.

112

The Batii Moral Dichotomy

patiently or endure not patiently, it is all the same to- you. You are
only going to receive your just recompense for wrliat you were
doing.' (LI I, 9-16)

There is the zalitn, ' wrong-doer h , or ' evil-doer', to which passing
reference waa made earlier and of which much more will be said later.
Here it is sufficient to note that the Zaqqum tree which, as we have
just seen, is said to await the arrival of those who cry lies to God, is
mentioned in the following quotation as a special entertainment for
the zalim.

Is that better as an entertainment, or the tree of Zaqqum? Verily,
We have prepared it as a special torment for the sdlim. Verily, it
is a tree that appears from the root of Hell, its spathes being as the
heads of devils. They shall eat thereof and fill their bellies thereof.
And afterward they are given a drink of boiling water. After that,
they ehall be brought back unto Hell (XXXVII, 60-66/62-08)

The mustakbir (syn, mutakubbir) is one who is too big with pride
to accept the teaching of the Qur^n, The concept will be subjected
to a detailed analysis in the following chapter.

Verily, those who arc too proud (yastakbitHna, from istikbar) to
worship Me shall enter into Gehenna, utterly mean arid abject

(XL, 62/60}

So enter the gates of Gehenna, therein to dwell for ever. Evil
indeed will be the abode of the matskabhir. (XVI, 31/2O.)

Similarly the loghi is one who is exceedingly insolent and pre-
sumptuous ; the word will be analyzed semantically later.

Verily, Gehenna lies in ambush, the last resort for fdghm (pi. of
faghf), therein to dwell for ages eternal. They shall not taste therein
neither coolness nor drink, but only boiling water and pus. A fit
recompense, indeed! (LXXVIII, 21-26)

Thc/a/ir (pL fvjj&r) is one who, forsaking the commands of God
or the rules of moral conduct, acts viciously, as opposed to the barr
(pi, tibrar).

Verily, the sbrdr shall be in bliss, while the fiqjar shall be in. the
Fire, to roast therein on the Day of Judgment, nor shall they
ever be removed therefrom. (LXXX1T, 13-16)

The $£fljt is one who deviates from the right course and acts wrong-
fully, as opposed to the muslim.

Verily, of us some are muslimtin (pi), and some are qdii(.itn (pi.),
Whoso has Surrendered [as lams, become Muslim), they have taken

5 "3

From Tribal Code to Islamic Fifties

the right course. But as for the qSstfun t they have become fuel fur
Gehenna. (LXXII, 14-15)

The 'api is one who rebels against God and His Apostle.

Whoso rebels against God and His Apostle, for him is prepared the
fire of Gehenna to dwell for ever. (LXXII, 34/33)

The muTidfiq is out who, though outwardly a pious believer, is in
reality a most stubborn disbeliever, a 'hypocrite '. About the semantic

structure of this important term more will be said later on,

O Prophet 1 Strive against the kuffdr (pi.) and the mtittafitjla
(pi,), and be harsh with them. Gehenna shall be their final abode,
an evil journey's end, (LXVT, 9)

The muttahzF, the scofier, is one who mock* at Revelation, The
act of making a jest of God's words springs from kufr. It is, according
to the Qur"an, the most characteristic attitude of all Kafirs towards

prophetic messages.

That is the reward of such men [those who disbelieve in the signs
of God], Gehenna, because they acted as Kafirs and toot My
signs and My Apostles in mockjery {fttusi?) (XV 111, ro&)

The kharras is condemned in the strongest terms. The word means
one who says by conjecture, 'without knowledge' as the Quran
says all kinds of things concerning Revelation.

Accursed be the kharrgfiln (pi.) who are heedless [of the warnings
of God] in the abyss [of Kufr]! 'When is the Day of Judgment ?'
they ask. Upon the day when at the Fire they shall be tormented,
'Taste well your torment! This is what you wished [in the world]
to hasten.' (LI, 10-14)

Finally there are those who, having no faith, never participate in
social charity and relief work, Hailstones of abuse are hurled at these
people, attesting to the extraordinary importance attached to being
ready to offer a helping hand at any moment to the poor and needy.

Take hold of him, fetter him, then roast him in the Hell Fire, and

put him in a chain of seventy cuhits 1 Verily, he believed not in the
Almighty God, not did he ever urge the feeding of the destitute.

So this day he has here no true friend nor any food except putrid
pus which none but the sinners eat, (LX1X, 30-37)

In conclusion I shall give a few quotations in which several of the
'negative 1 properties are put together, whethet unified in one single
person or divided among a number of persons.

1I +

The Bask Mora! Dichotomy

Throw into Gehenna, you two [this is said by God to the two
'stokers' of Hell Fire], every stubborn haffiar (emphatic form of
hufir) who hinders by all means (mttim^) the good, transgresses
{miftadt), entertains doubts [about God and His Revelation], who
sets up another god besides God. So throw him, you two, into the
dreadful chastisement 1 (L, 23—25/24—16)

Here we find four sins particularly pointed out as deserving the
'reward' of terrible torment in Gehenna: (i) kufr, (2) the act of
hindering others positively from doing such works as arc considered
religiously good, (3) transgression against God's will, and (4) throw-
ing doubt on the truth of God and turning to polytheism.

Obey thou [Muhammad] not those who cry lies {mukadhdhib) ; it
is their wish that thou shouldst treat them gently, so that they, too,
would be gentle to thee. And obey thou not any vile oath-monger
fhailaf), a backbiter {hammas) going about to spread abroad
slanders, a hindercr of the good, a sinful transgressor, rough and
rude ( [ u£tf/) therewithal, ignoble (sninim),* though he is possessed
of wealth and sons. Whenever Our signs are recited to such a man,
he always says, 'These arc but old folks* tales. 1 We shall brand
him on the snout, (LXVHI, 8-16)

In this passage, the features that are mentioned are seven: (1)
takdhtb, (2) the act of swearing haphazardly, that is, lact of truth-
fulness, (3) backbiting, which is a special form of 'telling a lie
(ktidhib)', (4) the hindering of the good, (5) transgression, (6) the
rudeness of manner, peculiar to Jahiliyah, and (7) being of a base,
ignoble nature such as is characteristic of an 'outsider' in the tribal
system of society.

The following words are the imaginary confession of those who
have been thrown into Gehenna on the Day of Judgment !

'We were not of those who observed the ritual of worship, nor did
we feed the poor and needy. But we used to plunge together with
other plungers [into the flood of vain discourse concerning God
and Revelation], and we cried lies to the Day of Judgment, until
at last the indisputable state of affairs has come to us.* (LXXTV,
44-43/43-47)

In this confession four things are made to stand out as most immedi-
ately responsible for the sinners' being punished with the torment of
Hell; (1) their not having observed the ritual of worship, (2) the
non-payment of sakt'tt, (3) vain discourse about religious matters,

and (4) takdhib.

! For this word sta above, Chapter IV, p. 57.

From Tribal Cwfe to Jtkmk Ethkt

Having obtained some general notions as to the distinguishing
marks of those who ro to Paradise and those who are bound for Hell,
we are now in a position to proceed to a detailed analysis of the key
value-words, belonging to either of the two diametrically opposed
categories. This will be the main task of the following chapters.

116

THH ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CONCEPTS

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VIL The Inner Structure
of the Concept ofKufr

In proceeding to give a detailed account of the principal
ethieo-religious values that are found in the Qnr'an, I begin with kttfr
rather than any of the positive virtues. I adopt this course because it
has an obvious methodological advantage for my purpose; kufr
not only forms the very pivot round which revolve all the other
negative qualities, but it occupies such an important place in the
whole system of Qur'anic ethics that a clear understanding of
how it is semantically structured is almost a prerequisite to a proper
estimation of most of the positive qualities. Even a cursory reading
of the Scripture will convince one that the role played by the concept
of ktifr is so peculiarly influential that it makes its presence felt well-
nigh everywhere in sentences about human conduct or character,
in my opinion, even the concept of faith or belief, as. the highest
cthico-religious value in Islam, may best be analyzed not directly
but rather in terms of kttfr, that is, from its negative side.

Now concerning kuft t we already know many things, since fre-
quent reference has been made to this or that aspect of its complex

meaning. Let us summarize those points which have been established,

i. The basic meaning of the root KFR, as far as our philological
knowledge goes, is most probably that of * covering'. In contexts
concerned especially with the bestowing and receiving 1 of benefits,
the word naturally cornea to mean 'to cover, i.e. to ignore knowingly,

119

The Analysis of Major Concepts

the benefits which one has received', and thence, "to be unthankful*,
z. The Qur'an emphasizes most strongty the Almighty God's being
particularly a God of grace and goodness. Man, as His creature,
owes everything, his very existence and subsistence, to the boundless
mercy of God, This means that he owes Htm the duty of being grate-
ful for His goodness which is being shown Mm at every moment of
bis life. A Kafir is a man who, having thus received God's benevolence,
shows no sign of gratitude in his conduct, or even acts rebelliously
against his Benefactor.

3, This fundamental attitude of ingratitude with regard to God's
grace and goodness is manifested in the most radical and positive
way by taktlkib, that is, 'giving the lie' to God, His Apostle, and the
divine message he is sent with.

4, Thus it comes about that kufr is actually used very frequently as
the exact antonym of man 'belief 1 . In the Quran the moat repre-
sentative opposite of wmW», J believer', or mus&m, lit. 'one whg has
surrendered* is admittedly kafir. It would appear that htfr, having
been used so often in contrast to man, lost more and more of its
original semantic Core of 'ingratitude*, and assumed more and more
the meaning of *dis-belief, until finally it has come to be used most
commonly in this latter sense, even where there can be hardly any
question of gratitude.

5, Kufr, as man's denial of the Creator, manifests itself most char-
acteristically in various acts of insolence, haughtiness, and pre-
sumptuousness. Istakbora, 'to be big with pride', and htaghttd, 'to
consider oneself as absolutely free and independent ', have been men-
tioned above; as we shall presently see, there are many other words
standing for similar ideas, Kufr farms, in this respect, the exact
opposite of the attitude of 'humbleness ', tafarrtf, and dashes directly
with the idea of toqwd, 'fear of God', which is indeed the central
clement of the Islamic conception of religion in general.

The Element of Ingratitude in Kufr

I gave earlier an excellent example of the 'secular* use of the word
ksfif, which brings out in a really striking way the element of 'in-
gratitude' as the semantic Core of kufr. 1 Turning to the behavior of
the term in specifically religious contexts, 1 shall begin by giving an
example which is indeed a rarity of the kind* It concerns kufr not
as an attitude of man towards God, but quite the other way round.
It presents kufr as an attitude which it is absolutely impossible for
God to adopt towards man. The passage reveals the remarkable
fact that, just as It is a religious duty of man to be grateful to God

1 Sec above. Chapter II, p. 41
I3C

The Inner Structure of the Concept of Kufr

for His acts of grace, so God, on ilis part, shows Himself thankful
to man for all the good works he does as a pious believer in response
to the divine call through His Apostle. God will never 'ignore* the
good services rendered by a sincere believer, but lie acknowledges
them gratefully and records them for him.

Whoso does good of his own accord, verily [to htm] God is thankful
(sfrdkir, part, of tkukr); He is aware of everything. (II, 153/158)

And the priticiple of non-fcu/r on the part of God will be manifested
most visibly in the bestowal, on the Day of Judgment, of the reward
of the Heavenly Gardens.

Whoso does good works as a pious believer, there shall be no
ingratitude (kufr) for his efforts. Verily, We Ourselves write them
down for him, (XXI, 94)

This means in plain language that God will never bring any act
of piety to naught, but will surely pay it back amply. Reduced to this
form, the passage just quoted loses all its seeming strangeness and
becomes completely of a piece with the general trend of thought in
the Qur'arL What makes this passage particularly interesting and
important for our purpose is that it expresses this fundamental
thought in terms of kufr^ and bears thereby witness to the fact that the
essence of kufr consists in 'ungratefulness' and that the word is
applicable in the same sense even to the attitude of God towards the
believers,

The examples that follow concern man's attitude towards the favors
of God, God, with His inscrutable will, goes on bestowing upon man
innumerable favors, but man remains stubbornly thankless to Him,

Hast thou not seen those who paid back God's favors with un-
gratefulness (kufr), and induced their people to dwell in the abode
of perdition? In Gehenna they shall roast — an evil resting-place
indeed I (XIV, 33-34/28-29)

In the two following quotations kufr is put expressly in antithesis
to thukr 'thankfulness '.

Here is a similitude which God has just struck : [there was] a city,
Secure and in peace, its provision coming to it in abundance from
all quarters, Biit it was ungrateful for God's favors, so God caused
it to taste the garment of death and fear for what they were doing.
. . . Eat, then, of what God has provided you with, lawful and good
things, and be thankful for God's favors, if it is really Him that
you worship, (XVI, 113, 115/112, 114)

121

The Analysis of Majvt Concepts

[I have bestowed upon you favors.] So remember Me, and I will
remember you. Be thankful to Me (wa-ushkitru /I), and be not
ungrateful to Me (wa-ia takfurum). (II, 147/153)

Man's Jbf/r-naturc becomes especially evident when one observes
his- conduct in time of distress. Tn the first two examples that follow
the root appears in the form olhafur, which, according to al-Baydawi,
suggests an exceeding degree of kufr and denotes the type of man who
is forgetful of all benefits he has enjoyed, although he retains in
memory the slightest hurt he has received.

Your Lord it is who drives the ships for you in the sea so that you
may seek after 1 [is bounty. So merciful is He towards you. More-
over, when some affliction befalls you in the sea, those whom yoti
call upon usually [i.e, the idols] forsake you, leaving Him alone.
But when He brings you safe to shone, you turn away, Man is
indeed an ingratc (kafur). (XVII, oS-fig/no-fc^)

So long as We let msm taste of mercy from Us, he is very glad there-
of. But the moment some evil befalls hi m because of that which his
own hands have done, he shows himself to be an ingrate {kafur).
(XLII, +7/48)

When they ride in the ships they pray to God, holding out thtir
religion sincerely to Him alone. But as soon as He has brought
them safe tn shore, behold, they return to polytheism. Let them
act ungratefully fyakfuru, a verbal form of kufr) for what We [the
subject here changes abruptly to the first person] have given them
[Le. Our favor*] E Let them betake themselves to merry-making.
Soon they will come to know. (XXIX, 65-66)

Sometimes God gives a very de-tailed list of the favors — called
"signs' ayat (pi. of ayah)— which He has bestowed upon men
(XVI, 3-18) and adds that in spite of such benevolence on His part
most of them remain negligent of the duty to be grateful to Him.
In the following quotation, be it remarked, man is accused of being
'unfair' or 'wrongful', sglum?- because of his attitude of kufr toward
God's gifts.

God it is who created the heavens and the earth, and sent down
from heaven water, and produced therewith fruits as a provision
for you. And He subjected to yon the ships to run upon the sea
as He commands. And Ht subjected to you the rivers. And He
subjected to you the sun and the moon to run their fixed Courses,
And He subjected to you the night and the day. Yea, He gave you
of all you asked Him. If you count God's favors, you will never

2 for the more exact meaning of this word sea below, Chapter YllI, pp. 164-172.

123

The Inner Structure of the Concept of Kufr

number them. Verily, man is too unfair, too ungrateful (kafftir,
emphatic form of kefir), (XI V, 37/32-34)

The following quotation brings out with clarity that God does
■expect man to be grateful to Him for all the favors He has given him.
He enumerates in detail the items of His bounty; states that all these
He has bestowed upon man 'that haply he may give thanks'; that
man denies, however, the blessing of God, although he recognizes it
clearly ; and He reaches the conclusion that 'the great majority of
men are Kafirs/

God brought you forth cut of the wombs of your mothers when
you knew naught about it, and He made for you hearing, and
sight, and hearts, that haply you will be thankful. Have they not
seen the birds subjected in mid-air? None holds them there but
Gad. Verily, this must be a [divine] sign for people who believe.
And God it is who has established for you as a dwelling-place your
houses; and made for you houses out of the skins of cattle, very
Lght to carry both on the day you journey and on the day you
abide; and with their wool, fur and hair, He has prepared for you
furniture and articles of enjoyment for a while.

And God it is, too, Who has made for you, of that which He
created, shelter from the sun, and established the mountains as
places of refuge, and made for you shirts to protect you from each
other's violence. Thus He fulfils Hiifawrs towards you, that haply
ytta may surrender [i.e. become good Muslims in return for this
extraordinary heuevolence of God]. But if, with all this, they still
turn their backs, thy [i.e. Muhammad's] mission is only to deliver
the clear message. They recognize the favors of God) and yet they
deny tkem i for most men are ungrateful.* (XVI, 80-85/78-83)

I shall conclude this section by remarking that there is in the
Qur^ another forcible word kanHd used with approximately the
same meaning as kafur. The root is KND, and means *to be un-
grateful, to refuse to acknowledge any benefit received'. The context
seems to suggest that the word is here used with an. implication that
man tends to reveal his ingratitude by being avaricious and grudging
others even a small portion of the good things which he has received
from God. I have already pointed out that passing on some at least
of the divine gifts to the poor and needy is considered in the Qur'an
to be part of the manifestation of gratitude one feels towards God
for His grace.

3 ' Ysfrifimir li'mat Aiiah thumma yutttirimafid, wa-aht&am/ium ai-hdfihin.'

1 23

The Analysis of Major Concepts

Indeed, how ungrateful (kanud) man is to Ilia Lord! Verily, he
himself is a witness of that' Indeed, how passionate he is in the
love of good things I (C, o-S)

Kufr as Opposed to Iman

The root KFR in the Qur'an is semantically ambiguous in the sense
that it can be used in either of the two basic meanings: 'ingratitude '
and ' disbelief, There is in the $aftik of al-Bukharl a very interesting
HadTth which shows that there -was in the minds of the earliest
Muslims a sort of fluctuation in the understanding of this root
when the context did not make dear as to which of the two con-
cepts was actually meant, 4

The Prophet (may God bless and give him peace!) said; *1 was
shown the Fire [i.e. 1 saw in my dream, He] I], and lol most of its
inhabitants were women who had been [in this world] character-
ized by kufr {yttkfttrm).' It was asked; 'Docs that mean that they
used to disbelieve in God (yakfttrna bi-AtSafyi'
He [the Prophet] said : ' No, the word means that they used to be
ungrateful towards the husband ^yakfurna al- : askir} and used to be
ungrateful for acts of kindness {yahfuma ni-ihsdti)-' 4
Concerning this ITadlth, the commentator al-Kirmani remarks
that the verb kafara has two different infinitives, one kttfr and the
other fatfmn, The former, he says, is the opposite of iman, "belief,
while the latter, being in the majority of Cases opposite of shukt*
'gratitude', means- usually 'ingratitude for a favor (ref ffiffft)'. 5

In any case it is certain that the Qur'an itself uses the root KFR in
these two different senses, but sometimes we find it difficult to draw
a sharp line of demarcation between them, for, as I said before, the
two arc connected with each other in Quranic thought by a firm
conceptual link. In order to understand this, we have to remember
that the 'signs', dydi, of God, which, in the last section, were chiefly
understood as 'favors' conferred by Him upon men calling forth
'thankfulness', may also very well be interpreted as so many mani-
festations of the divine Majesty, the Almightiness of God. In this
second aspect, the 'signs' arc naturally expected to arouse wonder
and awe in the minds of men, and to cause them to 'believe.* in
Providence, He who refuses to do so is a Kafir,

O people of the Scripture [ why do you disbelieve {tolifur&na) in
the signs of God, when you yourselves bear witness to them?

(HI, 63/70)

4 nt-BulchAri, .?flWi Un-Jith no. 18, in Kiioh oi-fmtai-

i al-Kirmlnlj Sttarfy ■S'aJjfA at-Hitkhart (Csiro, 1933-1^9), 1, 134.

124

The Inner Structure of the Concept of Kufr

Indeed We have displayed for men in this Qur'an all sorts of
similitudes [to make them understand the truth of God's words],
but most men refuse aught but disbelief (Aw/ur), (XYTl, 91/39)

Have not those who disbelieve (kafaru) seen that the heavens and
the earth were [originally] stitched together, and We unstitched
them asunder, and made out of water all kinds of living things?
Wiil they not believe for all this? And We set on the earth mountain*
firm-rooted, lest it should totter with them, and We placed therein
ravines for paths, tltat haply they may he guided [i.e. they may be
rescued from error and perdition and find the way to salvation].
And We established the heaven as a solid roof. Yet /rout Our signs
tftey still turn away. (XXI r 31-33/30-32}

How can you disbelieve (takfuruna) in God, seeing that you were
lifeless and He gave you life? He will give yon death again, then
lie will give you life, then unto Him you shall all be brought back.
(lI,a6/aS)

Sometimes the object of disbelief is the doctrine of Resurrection,
which is one uf the central tenets of Islam, Here kufr consists in the
refusal to accept the doctrine on the grounds that it is completely
absurd and fantastic. It has very little, if at all, to do with the emo-
tional reaction of 'thankfulness', the issue hinges on the acceptability
or non-acceptability of such a doctrine to human reason. The Kifirs
are those who definitely take the side of Reason in this- issue and turn
a deaf ear to Revelation.

They assert, 'There is only our life in this present world; wc shall

never be raised. 1 If only thou couldst see them when they are set
before their Lord [on the Day of Judgment 1] Ho will ask, * Is not
this the truth?' And they will answer, 'Yea, by our LordT He will
say, ' Then taste the chastisement for that you disbelieved [i.e. as
the reward for your disbelief in Resurrection]. 1 (VI, 29-30)

'Whatl when we are bones and rubbish, shall we really be raised
up in a new creation ?' Have they not seen that God, who created
the heavens and earth, is able to create [again] the like of them?
He has set for them a definite term, wherein there is no doubt.
And yet the wrongful people refuse aught but disbelief {htfat).
(XVII, roo-joi/c^-og)

If thou shouldst wonder, wondrous indeed is what they arc saying:
' What 1 after we have become dust? Shall we then be created afresh ?'
These are they who disbelieve in their Lord. And these are they
who shall be the Fellows of the Fire s therein to dwell for ever,
(XIII, 5-6/5)

125

The Analysis of Major Concepts

TTieir disbelief is not in any way confined to the doctrine of
Resurrection. Being constantly pricked with the thorn of Rests™,
they keep doubting anything that contradicts what they believe to
be reasonable. They are born sceptics ; the attitude which character-
ises them is just the opposite of the act of faith which consists in an
unconditioned surrender to whatever God commands. Thus they
cannot acknowledge as the Apostle of God a simple mortal, one from
among themselves, who 'eats ordinary Food and walks in the market-
place'. To their sceptical minds it sound* strangely discordant with
all reason that such an ordinary man who appears to possess no special
claim to prestige should attribute to himself the prophetic authority,

'Are we to follow a single mortal from among ourselves? Then
verily, we should be in error and folly. Is it possible that the
Revelation should be cast upon him alone out of all of us? Nay,
rather he is an impostor (kadhdMb), a self-conceited fellow V
(UV, 24 -*5)

A storm of indignation is raised when this 'impudent fellow'
proclaims that there is only one god, that all the other deities are
mere names, a doctrine which is indeed nothing but sheer absurdity
for the idol-worshippers.

They are astonished that a warner has come to them from among
themselves. The disbelievers {kafirun) say, 'This is only a wizard,
an impostor. What! lms he made all the gods One God? That is
indeed an astounding thing!' (XXXVIII, 3-4/4-5)

In these examples it is almost certain that kufr means the negation
of 'belief in God and Revelation. Here follow some examples, out
of a great number, which serve to bring to light the basic semantic
opposition of kufr and imiitt, that is, hufr as opposed not to the concept
of ' thankfulness ', hut to that of 'belief, because the antithesis n
here emphasized quite explicitly.

Many of the people of the Scripture would fain turn you baek into
disbelievers {kuffSr, pi. of kafir) after your profession of belief
(mart), through the envious nature of their souls, after the Truth
has become manifest unto them. (II, 103/109)

How shall God guide a people who disbelieved (kafaru) after
having once believed and testified to the truth of the Apostle, to
whom clear signs came? . . . Verily, those who disbelieve after
their profession of belief, and go on increasing in disbelief, their
repentance shall not be accepted. (Ill, So, 84/86, 00)

The Inner Structure of the Concept of Kufr

Those who disbelieve say, ' We will never believe in this Qur'an,
nor in the Scriptures before it' If only thou couldst see these
wrong-doers set before their Lord, trying to attribute these words
the one to the other l (XXXIV, 30/31")

When there comes to them [i.e. the people of Israel] what they
know to be the Truth, they disbelieve in it. The curse of God be
on the disbelievers. What a bad bargain they have sold their souls
for, that they should disbelieve in that which God has sent down,
mortally offended because God bestows of His bounty upon
whomsoever of His servants He will. Thus they have brought on
themselves [divine] wrath upon wrath, For the disbeliever! there
shall be a shameful chastisement. And when it is said to them,
'Believe in that which God has sent down', they reply, *We
believe only in that which was revealed unto us h [referring to the
Bible], and they disbelieve in what comes after it, though it is the
Truth that confirms what they possess [i.e. the Book of Revelation
which they possess already], (}\, 83-85/ 89-9 1)

The Heart of a Kafir

The Qurln devotes a considerable number of verses to the descrip-
tion of the State of a kdfir mind, Let us begin by noting that the hearts
of those who believe are described as finding a calm, sweet rest in
rememhrance of God ; ' Those who believe, their hearts rest calmly
in God's remembrance. Aye, in God's remembrance do their hearts
rest calm and serene. 1 (XIII, 28) In contrast to this calm, peaceful
state of the believing heart, the hearts of the Kafirs are very often
described as being "hardened like stones 1 . Qatat qulubuhunt, 'their
hearts are hard, or, have become hardened', is a standing metaphor
for the state of the k&fir hearts which would stubbornly resist the call
of the divine voice 'even though the mountains were moved, or
the earth cleft' (XIII, 30/3 1 ) and 'even though We should send down
the angels to them, or the dead should speak to them.* (VI, m).

Even after that [i.e. after God has shown them many astounding
miracles] your hearts were hard as rocke, or even harder stilL
For, itl fact, rotks there are from which rivers gush forth, and
others winch split in two to let water flow out. Indeed there are
even rocks that crash down for the fear of God. (II, 69/74)

Because they broke their covenant with Us, We cursed them and
made their hearts hard (qasiysh). (V, 16/13)

Wc ma y note in passing that in the last -quoted sentence, the harden-
|Page vi[ the Kafirs* hearts is attributed to God, The point is bound up

127

The Analysis of Major Concepts

with the well-known doctrine of foreordi nation, and it did lead to
very serious debates in Islamic theology as to whether all evil
including kufr might justifiably be attributed to God's will. As far
as the Qur'anie texts are concerned, however, this question is left
undecided. And it would be far beyond the scope of the present
inquiry to try to find some way of resolving this apparent theoretical
paradox.

The second characteristic of the kdfxr heart is that it is 'veiled 1
(ft aktnttah), that there is a. veil or partition curtain (hijUb) between
it and Revelation.

[This is] an Arabic Qur'an for a people who have understanding,
a bearer of good tidings and warning. Most of them, however,
have turned away and will not give ear. They saj'j *Qur hearts are
veiled from what thou callest us to, in our ears is deafness, and

between us and thee there is a partition. 1 (XLI, 2-4/3-5)

When thou redtest the Qu^an, We place between thee and those
who beheve not in the Hereafter a partition curtain (hijab), and
We place veils {akinnafy upon their hearts lest they understand it,
and in their ears deafness, (XVII, 47-48 ,'4 5-4.6)

The same thought ts expressed in various ways. It is for instance
expressed by means of the metaphor uf 'sealing'!

As for the Kafirs, whether thou warn them or warn them not it
would be all the same to them, they believe not. God has sealed
[khotsmd) their hearing and their hearts, and on their eyes there is
a covering (gkiskdwoh). (llj 5-6/6-7)

They [i.e. those who, on some specious excuse, do not go forth to
fight 'in the way of God'] are pleased to be with those who tarry
behind, God has sealed (faha'a) their hearts, so that they can under-
stand nothing. (IX, 94/93)

Or it is expressed by saying that there are 'locks' on their hearts:

Will they not meditate upon the Qur'an, or is it that there are
locks (aqfaJ) upon their hearts? {XLVII, 26/24)

Or, again, by the image of rust covering up the heart little by
little:

Nay but what they used to do has corroded their hearts with rust
{rdna t froni R YN f to cover with rust'). (LXXXIIJ, 14)

' Those who have a heart' (L, 36/37) must easily grasp the deep mean-
ing of the signs sent down by God ; upon them the revealed words of
God should work as a real reminder (dhikra). But, being veiled and

The Inner Structure of the Concept of Kufr

obstructed iti the way just described, the hearts of the Kafirs cannot
perceive the religious significance of anything. They remain blind
and deaf to the divine signs. The imagery of blindness, and deafness
is among the most commonly used in the Quran for describing the
distinguishing features of the Kafirs.

We made for them hearing, and eyesight, and hearts, but their
hearing, and their hearts availed them naught, seeing that they
always denied the signs of Cod and they are now surrounded on
all sides by what they used to mock at. (XLVI, 25/26)

This means that, physically, the Kafirs are without defect; it is
their hearts 'that are within the bosoms' that are defective. The
following verses bring out this paint in explicit terms:

Have they not travelled in the land [the earth is full of divine signs]
so that they have hearts wherewith to understand or ears wherewith
to hear? Nay, it is nut the eyes that are blind, but it is rather the
hearts within the bosoms that are blind. (XXII, 45/46)

O believers, obey God and His Apostle . . . and be not like those

who say, 'We hear', while in fact they hear not.

Verily, the worst of beasts in, the sight of God are those who are

deaf and dumb and do not understand. Had God recognized any

good in them, He would have made them hear. But had He made

them hear, they would have turned back and gone aside- (VIII,

20-23)

All efforts to induce them to believe arc sure to end in a sheer
waste of labor. We often see God advising Muhammad to atop
extending his apostolic enthusiasm towards these people, for it is
almost certain that it is impossible for them to be converted.

f}ost thou think that most of them hear or understand? They are
but as the cattle, Nayj they are farther astray from the way. (XXV,
40/4+)

Verily, thou canst not make the dead to hear, nor canst thou make
the deaf to hear the call when they turn their backs to thec. Neither
canst thou guide the blind out of their straying. Thou canst make
none to hear save those who believe in Our signs and surrender
[unto Us]. (XXVII, 82-83/80-31)

Of them there arc some who give car to thec. But canst thou make
the deaf to hear when they understand naught? And of them there
are some who kiofc towards thee. But canst thou guide the blind
when they see naught? (X, 43-44/4.2-43)

129

The Analyst* of Major Concepts

Having a veiled heart, a Kafir cannot apprehend the signs of God
an (Key are, even though he gives car to the recitation of the Qur'ao
and looks towards the Apostle. To him, the divine signs are just the

fairy talcs of old folks.

Of them there are some who give car to thee, but as We have placed
a veil upon their hearts, they apprehend it [i.e. the deep meaning of
God's words] not. And in their ears [We have put] deafness. And
even if they see any sign, they do not believe in it, so that when
they come to thee they start an argument with thee, these Kafirs,
saying 'This is naught hut old felts' tales,' (VI, 35)

Thus he who attempts to convert the Kafirs is likened to a drover
shouting to his cattle. The cattle only helT his voice; they never
apprehend what his words mean.

The likeness of [one who calls to intern] those who disbelieve
(kafaru) is as the likeness of him who shouts to that which can
hear naught else, hut a shouting voice. Deaf, dumb, and blind, they
apprehend naught, (II, 1*6/171)

Kufr and Shirk

Since kufr in both of its main aspects, 'rJianklessness' and 'disbelief,
cannot but end in denying the absolute Oneness of Cod, there is
naturally a respect in which it can fairly be equated with polytheism.
Polytheism in ancient Arabia consisted in the worship of idols, and
a number of minor deities that were called sometimes the daughters
of God, or mote simply 'companions' or 'associates* of God. The
most usual term for this kind of polytheism is shirk ; and for the
idolater ntusftrik, literally, 'one who associates', that is, one who
ascribes partners to God,

First I shall quote some passages where kufr is talked of expressly
in terms of 'associating".

Praise be to God who created the heavens and the earth, and put in
order the darkness and the light. Yet the Kafirs [alUidMna kafara)
ascribe equals unto their Lord, (VI, 1)

They ascribe unto God associates {shuraha*). Say, 'Name them.*
Is it that you would tell Him what He knows not in the earth?
Or are they but empty names? Nay, hut their contrivance appears
fair to the Kafirs, and thus they arc kept away from [God's] way.

(XIII, 33)

Whenever God alone was invoked, you disbelieved [futfartum),

but if others were associated [with Him], you believed. (XL, r2)

130

The Inner Structure of the Concept of Kufr

In the next quotation, the semantic content of the word mushrik
is chiefly determined — by implication — by two factors: not following
Revelation, and sot acknowledging the absolute Oneness of God.

Follow thou that which is revealed to thee from thy Lord, There is
no God but He, Turn away from the mushrik, (VI, ion)

It will be worth noting that from the standpoint of the thorough-
going monotheism of Islam, the Christian doctrine of Trinity
constitutes a representative example of polytheism. And so also the
deification of Jesus Christ, In the following, be it remarked, these
central tenets of Christianity are treated invariably as acts of the
Kafirs. Scmantically, this should be understood in this way: these
belong to the category of kufr by being cases of shirk. This point
comes out explicitly in the text,

They surely are Kafirs who say, ' God is the Messiah, son of Mary, '
For the Messiah [himself] said, '0 children of Israel, worship
God [alone], my Lord and your Lord.' Verily, whoso ascribes unto
God associates, God has surely forbidden Paradise unto him, and
his final abode shall be the Fire. For the wrong-doers there shall
he no helpers. They surely are Kafirs who say, "God is the third
of Three.' Nay, there is no god save One God. If they desist not
from saying so, there shall befall those of them that commit such
an act of kufr a painful chastisement. (V, 76^-77/72-73)

Seen from still another angle, shirk is neither more nor [ess than
forgery, that 'forging against God a lie", iftird' ~*aid Allah al-kadkii,
which we have discussed in connection with the moral value of
'truthfulness', sidq, in Chapter VI. For, obviously, idolatry of poly-
theism consists in creating 'out of caprice' beings that are in reality
mere names and nothing else. And via this route, too, shirk con-
nects ultimately with kufr, as the following passage shows clearly.

They say, ' God has taken to Himself a son. 1 Glorified be He I He
is the Self-sufficient His is all that is in the heavens and all that
is in the earth. You have no authority for this, Will yon say about
God what you do n«t know ? Tell them. ' Verily, those who forge
against God a lie shall not end well.' . . . We shall make them taste
the harsh chastisement for that they were Kafirs. {X, 60,-71/68-70)

'Ibe Kafir in this sense — i.e. kdjir ™ muskrih — is compared to a
man who stretches forth his hands in vain towards the mirage of
water in the desert,

To Him alone is the prayer of truth, whilst those unto whom they
pray apart from God answer them naught, ft may be compared to

131

The Amlyiii of Mfyor Concept*

a man who stretches forth his hands to water that it may come unto
his mouth, and it reaches it not. The prayer of the Kafirs is sure to
go astray, (XT IT, 15 '14)

As for the Kafirs, their deeds are like a mirage in the desert ; the
thirsty man takes it for water, til! when he comes unto it he finds it
naught, but he finds God instead, And He pays him his account.
For swift indeed is God at reckoning. (XXIV, 39)

There follows this last-quoted passage another comparison which
pictures a kafir^mushrih as a man covered by thick layers of darkness
011 a vast, abysmal sea.

Or like darkness upon an abysmal sea, covered by a wave above:
which is a wave, overspread with clouds, darkness upon darkness.
When he stretches forth his hand, scarce can he see it. To whomso-
ever God has given no fight, for him there can he no light L (XXIV,
40)

Here is another simile used for emphasizing the essential vanity
of the deeds of the mushrik:

Whoso associates (yuskrik, verbal form corresponding to the par-
ticipial-adjectival mushrik) with God partners, it is as though he
has fallen from the sky and the birds snatch him away, or the wind
blows him away to a far-off place. (XXI L 32/31)

Concerning kufr-skirk there remains one more important point to
be noticed. The Qu.r'an attributes shirk ultimately to the working
of the mental faculty of sonn 'thinking 1 , a word which is used as a
general rule in contrast to Him 'knowledge (established unshakably
on the basis of reality) ', and denotes accordingly a groundless, un-
warranted type of thinking, uncertain or doubtful knowledge, un-
reliable opinion, or mere conjecture.^ Thus it comes about that in the
Quranic contexts this term behaves as a negative value, Just as z ilm t
its contrary, has acquired the status of a positive value. Both xtmn
and ^ilm are value words in the Qur^an.

Dost thou not see that to God belongs whosoever in the heavens
and whosoever in the earth? What, then, do those follow who call
upon associates (shvrakir) besides God? They follow naught but
%ann, verily they are merely conjecturing (yakhrusutia). (X, 67/66)

This last word, yakhrusiina, comes from the root Kff-R-S having
also the meaning of ' doing or saying something by uncertain — and

* Per more details about 'Hut and ?mtn, Bee my Cod and Mem in tht Koran,
133

The inner Structure of the Cfauxpt of Kitft

mostly false — -opinion', and is opposed to Hhn. In Surah LI, wc have
an example of the use of this root under the emphatic form, kharrs^,
one who indulges in conjecturing. It is significant that the com-
mentator al-Baydaw? explains this word in this passage by kadhdhab,
'a big bar 1 , showing how easily the concept of 'conjecturing* could
shade into that of 'telling a lie' in the semantic consciousness of the
old Arabs.

Accursed be the hhattus&n (pJ,), who are heedless [of the warnings
of God] in the abyss [of kufr\l 'When is the Day of Judgment?'
they ask [sarcastically]. (LI. 10-12)

The following passage shows very clearly that, in the Quranic
conception, suns is basicity opposed to c iim and that the false deities

whom the polytheists worship arc nothing but products of ?aim.

Verily, those who believe not in the Hereafter name the angels
with female names. But in reality they have no knowledge i^Utb)
thereof: they only follow statu. Znnrt, however, can never replace

the truth. (LIII, 28-219/27-28; see also X, 37/36)

A few verses earlier in the same SOrah, we find the three ancient
goddesses of Mecca, MSt, aJ-'Uzaa, and ManSt, declared to be

empty names and mere products of groundless conjecture.

Have you considered Allat and al-'Uzza, and in the third place
Manat? What, will you attribute to Him females [referring to the
fact that these goddesses were known as * Daughters of Allah']
while you [desire only] male offspring P That were indeed an unfair

division. May, these are but names which you have named, you
and your fathers. God has sent down no warrant for them. They
[here the subject changes abruptly] do but follow scmn according

to the dictates of their souls' desire. (Lllf, 19-23)

Kufr in the Sense of * Going Astray '

As we shall see later in Chapter IX t the Quran defines 'belief,
Iman, in terms of a number of key concepts. One of them — and
certainly one of the most important — is the concept of ihtidH',
Viewed from this point of view, 'to believe' is to 'be rightly guided'
or ' to accept the guidance [of God] '. And if tmatt is thus to be under-
stood as ihtidd y , then its opposite, kufr, would obviously mean
'going astray from the right way'. The typical word used in the
Qur'an for this meaning is the verb dalla {nam. dalahh or dalal).

We shall begin by remarking that this verb, as one of the most
common words in Arabic, may be used at various levels of discourse.
It may be used, in the first place, in a concrete sense, i.e. 'to lose

"33

The Analysis of Major Concepts

one's way while travelling in the desert 1 . It may also be used in a
metaphorical sense, And in this litter ease, we may distinguish
between two different levels of discourse; religious and nan-religious
or secular.

Of the nnn-religious use of this word, the Qur^n itself (the Chapter
of Joseph) furnishes us with two examples. One of them refers to the
excessive and 'partial' love Jacob shows to Joseph in preference to
all his other sons. The point of view here is, needless, to say, that of
Joseph's bt others..

They [Joseph's htothers] said, 'Verily, Joseph and his brother
[the youngest one, Benjamin] arc dearer to our father than we,
though wc are so many. Verily, our father is in manifest dalal.'
(XII, 8)

The other refers to the aberrant passion for young Joseph, which
he has inflamed in the heart of the wife of the Egyptian Governor,

Some women in the city said, ' The wife of the Governor desires
to entice his page to lie with her. He has smitten her heart with love.
Verily, we see her in manifest jalal.* (XII, 30)

It will be clear that in both cases the term dalal implies that the
action in question is something which is felt to go against the normal
moral sense. But, of course, the basic meaning is in this case, too,
'going .astray from the right path'.

Far more usual in the Qur'an is, however, the religious usage of the
word. In fact we find the basic conceptual opposition of ilitadd and
dulla expressed everywhere in the Qur^an in the most emphatic
way. Out of a huge number of examples, I give here a few typical
ones.

Whoso is guided (or 'accepts guidance;.' iklndd), is guided only to
his own benefit, and whoso strays (dalla), strays only to his own
loss. Nobody shall bear the burden of another on top of his own
burden. (XVII, 16/15}

Verily, thy Lord knows best who goes astray {yadilia) from His
way, and He knows best the rightly guided {muhtadln). (VI, 117)

In the following example dalalah is opposed to kudd, * guidance';

Those arc they who have purchased dalalah (straying) at the
price of httdd (guidance), and chastisement at the price of pardon.

(II. i70/t75)

It is noteworthy that here 'straying' is paired with * chastisement',
'adkab, and 'guidance' with 'pardon', moghftrah. This alone will be

134

The Jjttwr Structure of the Concept of Kufr

enough to show that the ' straying' here in question is another name
of ftw/r. In the neact example, 'straying' and 'chastisement' appear in
combination.

Nay, but those who believe not in the Hereafter arc in 'adftab and
far dam. (XXXIV, 8)

We must remark in this connection that the stage in which man lives
in complete ignorance of Revelation is sometimes designated in the
Qur'an by the same word, the stage, that is, that precedes ail revela-
tional activity on the part of God, and where, therefore, the problem
of kufr in the strict sense of the word cannot properly arise yet.

Verily, God showed mercy on the believers when He sent amongst
them an Apostle of their own, to recite unto them His signs and
to purify them, and to teach them the Scripture and wisdom,
although they were before that in manifest dalal. (Ill, 158/164)

It is interesting to notice, that the following verse suggests that the
cattle are naturally in the state of dalal. But the Kanrs, it declares,
are 'further astray ' from the right path:

Dost thou [Muhammad] think that most of them hear or under-
stand? They are but as the cattle. Nay t they are farther astray
(dgfaffli) from the way. (XXV, 46/44)

If t as we have just seen, the state before Revelation is to be classified
in the category of dalal, still more must this be true of the state of
those who reject Revelation knowingly, The Qur'an furnishes
numerous examples of this.

Verily those who disbelieve {kafaru) and obstruct the way of God;
they have strayed {daltft) far astray [data (an btfidtm). (IV, 165/167)

The likeness of those who disbelieve [kttfaru) in their Lord — their
deeds are like ashes whereon the fierce wind blows on a day of
tempest. They have no control: at all over that which they have
earned. That is indeed the far dalal. (XIV, 21/18)

It should be remarked that this equivalence, kufr=dalal, obtains
only from the standpoint of the believere. Viewed from, the stand-
point of the Kafirs themselves, it is of course the position of the
believers that is dalal. Whenever a wamer comes to them, the Kafirs
call him a liar and say,

God has sent down naught You [believers] are but in great
dalai (LXVII, 9)

i35

Tlie Analysis of Major Concepts

On this, Muhammad is u rgcd to retort, Saying,

He is the Merciful. In Him we believe and in Him wc put our trust.
You will soon know who it is that is in manifest daldt. (LXVTT, 29)

The same is true of the following passage:

Wc sent Noah unto hi* people, and he said, l O my people, worship
God ! You have no other God than He. Verily, I fear for you the
chastisement of an awful day. The chiefs of his people said,
'Verify, wc sec thee in manifest daldl'. He said, 'O my peopte,
there is no falalak in me, but I am an Apostle from the Lord of all
beings.' (VII, S7-59/59-60

Since shirk, 'associating', i,e, polytheism, is, in the Quranic
Conception,, nothing but one of the must typical manifestations of
Au/r, it is not at all surprising that it should be counted as a case of
dalal. A few examples will suffice.

lie [an idol-worshipper] calls, beside God, upon that which
neither hurts him nor profits him [i.e. idols that are completely
powerless]. That is indeed the far daldl. (XX 11 r is)

When Abraham said to his father Azar, 'Takest thou idols for gods?
Verily, I see thee and thy people in manifest dalal.' (VI, 74)

Shall I take, beside Him, gods who, if the Merciful [God] should
wish me any calamity, will never be able to intercede effectively for
me, and who will never deliver me? Then surely I should be in
manifest dal&L (XXXVI, 23-25/33-34)

Indeed, haft in all its forms is dalal. Those, for instance, who 'cry
lies 1 (takdhSf) to Revelation are 'those who stray*.

' Then lo [ you who go astray (dallun, part, pi.) and cry lies [to the
Dav of Judgment], you shall cat of a tree of Zaqqum [the infexnal
tree].' (LVI T 51-53)

We sent among every nation an Apostle, 'Worship you God, and
shun idols!* Some of them God guided, but some of them there were
who were predisposed to dalalak. Travel in the land and Sec how
was the fate of those who cried lies (mokadhStibln), (XVI, 38/36)

Those ''whose hearts are hard ' {omat quffimhton) — a phenomenon
which we examined above — are also in daldL

Woe to those whose hearts are hard against the remembrance of
God! Those art in manifest dalal. (XXXIX, 23/22)

Zulin 'wrong-doing* is in the Qur'anic context a particular aspect
of ku.fr as we shall see in the following chapter. So it is but natural

136

The Inner Structure of tlie Concept of Kufr

that a 'wrongdoer' {zatim) is described as 'erring' away from the
right path,

Woe to those who disbelieve {fuzfari) for the assembly of an awful
day ! . . . The wrong-doers (j&J&'iwuw) are today in manifest daldL
(XIX, 38-39/37-38; s« alsoXXXI, jo/u)

Even those who are 'in doubt' concerning the Truth are already
in far dalal. Likewise, those who, because of their lack of 'patience',
despair of God's mercy.

Those who believe are in fear (mttihftqSn) of it [i.e. the Last Hour],
being well aware that it 13 the Truth, Ay, indeed, those who are in
doubt {ytmarSna) concerning the Hour are in far dalal. (XLII,
i 7 /i3)

Who would despair of the mercy of his Lord save those who are
erring {ddtfytta) ? (XV, 56)

The verb falla has a number of synonyms in the Qur'an that are
used more or less in the same sense in the same sort of contexts,
The verb gkawiya or ghawd is one of the most important, meaning
'to go astray from the right course '. In the following passage, ghdtui,
which is the participial form of this verb, meaning *one who goes
astray', is opposed, first of all,, to multaqt, which as we know means
'godfearing', and then, after a few verses, is definitely shown to be
synonymous with ddU.

And Paradise shall be brought nigh unto the muttaqin (pi.) while
Hell shall be brought forward for the ghatniti (pi.). . . . They [the
Kafirs in the Hre] shall say, while quarrelling therein, 'By God,
we were surely in manifest dalal when we made you [idols] equal
with the Lord of all beings. The truth is that the sinners {mtsjrimQn)
led us astray {adalla). (XXVI, 90-91, 96—99)

That the verb glutted is a synonym of dalla in its religious sense
may be proved by another fact : namely, that it is sometimes used in
the Quran to denote the reverse tfiktitia', 'being guided*.

Adam disobeyed ( c fl*d) his Lord [in reference to the fact that he ate
of the Tree of Eternity in the Garden], and so he went astray
(ghawd). Afterwards, however, his Lord chose him, turned again
towards him, and guided {hada) him [i,e. brought him back to the
right path,] (XX, 119-120/121-132)

Another important synonym is sagha (nom. xgygh}, meaning to
'swerve aside, or deviate from the right course 1 . Here is a typical
example of its use:

137

The Analytit of Major Concepts

He it U who has seat down upon thee the Scripture, of which sortie
verses are clear , . . and other* ambiguous. As for those in whose
hearts is xaygh ('swerving inclination *, so to speak), they cling to
the ambiguous part, seeking to cause dissension. . . .
Yet those who arc firmly rooted in the knowledge (rasikhQa ft
ai-iim) aay, 'We believe in it. All is from our Ijard, ,. , . Our Lord,
cause not our hearts to swerve (tusigh, causative form uf xeygfy
after that Thou hast guided (funi&yta) us.' (Ill, 5-6/7-8)

Likewise the verb ''timiha, 01 'atmifw, meaning roughly 'to wander
astray blindly, being utterly perplexed as to which way to go'. The
verb, as is clear, is particularly fit for describing the state of the
Kafirs going to and fro in this world, without ever finding the right
direction.

Verily, as for those who believe not in the Hereafter, We have
made their deeds Look fair unto them so that they wander astray
{ydrnttena). (XXVII, 4}

Very similar to falsi in the close relationship it hears to guidance
is gkajkth which literally means 'heedlessness 1 or 'carelessness'.
Nothing brings out better the basic meaning of this word than a
'secular' use of it. The Qur'an itself furnishes an interesting ex-
ample. The passage is found in the Chapter of Joseph; it is put in
the mouth of Jacob, who is extremely anxious about his beloved
child, Joseph, whom his brothers are going to take out to make him
play in the open. air.

Verily, it grieves me that you should take him oat with you; I fear
lest the wolf devour him [Joseph] while you are heedless (ghafHun)
of him* (XII, 13}

While dalal in its religious use consists in swerving from the path of
guidance, ghafiah means to remain utterly heedless of it, It is highly
interesting to note that, just as fatal, as we have seen above, can de-
note the state before Revelation, so ghafiak, too, can be used in refer-
ence to the pre-revelational conditions of man. In Surah XXV,
46/44 we saw the Kafirs compared to the cattle in regard to the state
of faUtt in which they find themselves. Exactly the same is true of
them in regard to the property of heedlessness which characterizes
them.

Whomsoever God guides [yahdt), he is guided [muhtadi), while
whomsoever He leads astray {yudlify such are the losers. We have
created for Gehenna a huge number of jinn and men who, having
hearts, understand not therewith. They arc like the cattle. Nay,

they are further astray {adallti). Thev arc the heedless {ghafiiun,
part. pi). (VII, 177-1 78/ 178-170)

138

The hner Structure of the Concept of Kufr

The Revelation of the Mighty, the Merciful, that thou [Muham-
mad] mayest warn a people whose fathers were never warned, and
who axe, Consequently, heedless. (XXXVI, 4-5/5-6)

It ia noteworthy that Muhammad himself is described as having
been in the state of g hafiah before he began to rcoeive Revelation.

We narrate to thee the best of stories in that We have revealed to
thec this Qur'an, although thou wast aforetime of the heedless.
(XI L 3)

The following example brings 'heedlessness' into a close relation-
ship with kufr, zitftti, and shirk.

When the true promise [i.e. the chastisement of Hell] draws nigh,
lo, how fixedly open they are, the eyes of the Kafirs 1 [They say],
'Alas for ust We were in heedlessness {gh&flah} of this. Nay, we
were wrongdoers (zdlitnin).' 'Verily, you and what you used wor-
ship beside God, are all fuel for Gehenna. You are now going to
enter it.' (XXI, 0,7-98)

Next I give two examples that would bring to light the semantic
equivalence between kufr and gh&fiah,

. . . God guides not the Kafirs. They are those upon whose hearts
and ears and eyes God has set a seal. Those arc the heedless
(ghsJUuit). (XVI, 109-110/107-108)

Give thou [Muhammad] warning to them of the day of grief, when
the matter shall be decided [ultimately], while they are in heedless-
ness (gh&ftah) and unbelieving (id yit'miniin ), (XIX, 40/3 9)

Hawd as the Immediate Cause of Dalai

The Qur^n mentions hawd (pi, ahtm*) as the principal and immediate
cause of faUl. He who follows his hated in matters that concern
religious faith is sure to stray from the right path. And those who
follow the person who pursues his hamd will inevitably he misled far
from God's way.

Say, ' I am forbidden to worship those [idols] you call upon beside
God.' Say, 4 1 will not follow your ahted i (pi. of harm), for then I
would go astray (dataltit) and would not he of the guided [muh-
tadm): (VI, 5.6)

Who is further astray {a fall, compatative) than he who follows his
own hated without guidance from God? Verily God guides not
zalim people. (XXVIII, 50)

139

The Analysit of Major Concepts

Follow not the aftrnt 1 of people who went astray (daUu) of old and
led astray (adaUu) many, and [now] have gone astray (dailu) from
the level road. (V, 81/77)

It is highly significant that later in theology the heretics come to be
called the 'people of ahwa" (ahl aLaktea^J Tt is one of the key
terms of Islamic thought. Already in Jahillyah it used to play an
important role, Only a at that time the word carried good as well as
bad connotations. As an example of the former we may quote
Ta^abbatah Sharran's famous verse:

Qatii al-taikakkl lil-nailimm yutfbvhu *
httftir al-hatvd shattd ul-nawd Kti-abmasatik

[Mc is a man who] seldom complains of whatever calamity befalls
him* but has plenty of desires [hawd), many different directions
to move in and ways to go. 8

Likewise the following verse by an anonymous poet, in which he
urges his tribesmen to reflect and to awake before it is too late, i.e.
before the tribe is completely disintegrated :

AfiqQ Bant Tiazn lea^ahw^una Huron *
wt-Qr?ianttiw m^patHltft lam taqaddab

Awake [from your ghafiah before the war breaks out] ! Awake, while
our hearts' desires (ite 1 ) aire still united, and our blood relation-
ship still kept intact without being cut asunder. 9
As an example of the use of the word in a bad sense, I shall give
the following hemistich by c Antarah :

* §B utbi'-u ai-mf$ ai-laj&j htmShU

I do not allow my obstinate soul to follow her own hawd. [i.e. I
never lose self-control ', whenever my soul desires to do something
which I know will endanger my position, 1 restrain myself.] 10 '

The word has/d may be said" to mean, roughly, the natural inclina-
tion of the human soul, bom of lusts and animal appetites. In the
Qur'anic contest it means invariably an evil inclination whieh is
liable to mislead man from the right way. Thus in the Qur'an kawd

T In theology hntfi (aftsstf*) j* a technical Ecim used atwa^Si ill a disparaging
Bense. For instance, al-Ash^ari says, 'The Mu'tazilitcs and the Qadflrites who huye
Kvtie usiray Imygli) from the Truth hai r e been led by their own ahum' Bo imitate
blindly their Itadeis and forefather! And In interpret the Komn in quite an arbitrary
way. 1 KitJtt at-Iianah, md pr. iHy dee ibad- Dn., 1948), p. 3.

* AbQ Titmrnim, Ua^imah, 1, 47.

* Ibid., 16+.

M <£jii&n{i, ZJfftrfH, ed. '■Ahd al-Ratif (Cairo, n.d_), p. iK6, v. i.

rao

T/k Inner Structure of the Concept of Kufr

forms the opposite of '(tot, * knowledge 1 , ijt, the revealed knowledge
of the Truth,

If thou [Muhammad] shouldst follow their ahnil? after the know-
ledge (^iifn) that has come ti> thee, then surely thou wilt be of the
wrong-doers (feSmirr). [11, 140/145)

Nay, but those who do wrong [%(thmu) follow their own nhte£' in
place of knowledge (Him). Who shall guide ^yahdt) him whom
God has led astray (adalla)? They have no helpers. {XXX, 33/29)

The Jews will not be satisfied with thee [Muhammad], nor yet the
Christians, until thou followest their creed. Say, 'God's guidance
(kudd) is the guidance. 1 If thou followest their dAtcvi 1 after the

knowledge that has come to thee, thou ahalt have then against God
no protector nor helper. (II, 114/120)

It will be evident from the foregoing that the act of following one's
own hated as opposed to 'knowledge ' is, in ultimate analysis, nothing
other than forming wild conjectures concerning God and His Revela-
tion. So we see sometimes hated being replaced by some such expres-
sions as fflflfl, to take the most conspicuous case. 11

If thou obeyest most people Dn earth they would lead thee astray
(yudilify from God's way, for they follow naught but mere conjee-
ture (?ann); they speak only by opinion [yakhruxSna), (VI, n6)

It goes without saying that 'knowledge*, Him, in its turn, may be
replaced by 'truth*, ftaqo, for, as we have seen earlier, they are but
two different aspects of one and tile same thing: Revelation,

Judge thou between them in accordance with what God has sent
down,, and follow not their ah/wo? to turn away from the Truth
(htujq) that has come to thee. (V, 51/48)

It is interesting to note that the attitude of those who follow their
own hated in place of Guidance is sometimes designated in the Qui i)
by a very significant expression; 'taking one's own kawd for one's
god'.

Hast thou seen him who has taken his futmt for his god, and God
has led him astray (adaila) knowingly, and has set a seal upon his
hearing and his heart, and has placed a covering upon his eyesight?
Who shall, then, guide him after God? {XLV, 22/23; see also
XXV, 45/43)

i I We hams already examined the basic oppojrtion of a*wm »tnj <i'(m! above in
ennrtCCticm with the problem of iter*, ' polytheism ' («* pp- IJC-iJJp-

141

The Analysis of Major Concepts

Of leas importance is a synonym of howd i sh.ainr.ah, a word meaning
'desire 1 , 'appetite', or 'lust'. It may, in certain contexts, replace
hated without causing any noticeable change in meaning.

God wishes to turn towards you, but those who follow their
shukswut (pi, of shahwah) wish that you should swerve away
[from the Truth] with great swerving, (IV, 32/27)

There succeeded them [i,e, the great Prophets such as Abraham,
Moses, Ishmael, etc.] a generation who abandoned the prayer and
followed the shahaumt. {XIX, 60/59)

The Attitude of Haughtiness

Another important element in the semantic Structure of the Concept
tiikufr is 'haughtiness* or 'arrogance*. We should remark that in the
Qur'anic conception the inborn arrogance of the mind is not simply
one of the various features of kufr. The Qur'In never tires of laying
special emphasis on this element in the structure of kujr, so much
so that in many cases it is made to represent the most typical charac-
teristic of a Kafir. A Kafir is an arrogant, haughty man in a religious
sense. Even a cursory examination of the Scripture will convince
anyone that it loots at the phenomenon of kujr mainly from this
angle. In the Qurln the insolent boaster walks around as the central
figure in the province of negative properties.

Then said the chiefs of his [i.e. the Apostle Salih's] people [i.e. the
people of Thamfid), who grew arrogant {irtakbarii), unto those
that were despised [i.e. the menials of the peopk], 'Do you know
for certain that Salih is one sent from his Lord?' They said, 'In
that which [i.e. the divine message] he has been sent with, verily,
we do believe,' Those, however, who grew arrogant {istakbaru}
said, 'We, on our part, in that which you believe do disbelieve
(A^s)/ (VII, 73-74/75-76)

Yea, My signs did come to thee [this is said to an infidel in the
Hell Fire], but thou didst cry them lies, and wert arrogant {istak-
bartay Thou hast become of those who disbelieved {hajirm).
(XXXIX, 60/50)

This of course implies that ' haughtiness ! , on its positive side, is
definitely opposed to 'belief (htmii). Those who are 'haughty 1,
cannot accept ' belief 1 , and, conversely, those who do not believe in
the divine 'signs 1 arc simply 'behaving haughtily'.

Moses, said, ' I seek refuge in my Lord and your I.ord from every
man puffed up with pride {mutttkabbir) who believes not in the

Day of Reckoning.' (XL, 28/17)

142

The Inner Structure of the Concept of Kujr

As for those who believe and do good deeds, He will not only-
pay them in full their wages, bur give them more than they merit,
out of His bounty. But as for those who show only disdain and
scorn {istankufH, from NKF meaning 'to refuse scornfully') and
behave haughtily (isiakb&ii). He will punish them with a painful
diastiscmerit. (TV. 17a/ 173)

They [Pharaoh and his ministers] said [to Moses], 'Whatever sign
thou dost bring unto us to bewitch us therewith, we shall never
believe in thee.' So We sent upon them the flood, the Locusts, the
lice, the frogs, and the blood, all manifest signs, but [every time]
they only behaved arrogantly {istakbtirS), for they were naturally
a sinful people. (VII, r 29-130/ 132-133)

It may he. worth recalling in this connec-ior, what we said above about
the nomadic virtue of muriitoah, The concept, as we saw, is based on
an exceedingly high opinion of human power. It was considered
mosr natural in Jahillyah that he who was conscious of the inherence
of power in his soul should manifest it in all his behavior, that he
should act with pride and haughtiness. Even idolatry, the only
authentic religion in JaMTyah, was kept within narrow bounds so
that it could not hurt the pride of such persons. From the standpoint
of Islam, however, such an attitude of man was nothing less than a
titanic rebellion against the supreme authority of God. I have already
pointed out that even in the daily relations of life, Tslarn stresses the
importance of keeping to the virtue of hilm. And in effect, there is in
the Qur'an constant denunciation of those who 'walk about haughtily
in the earth', puffed Up with unreasonable pride, bellowing in the
most disagreeable voice, and oppressing the poor and weak in their
blind contumely.

Distort not thy cheek, turning proudly away from men, nor swagger
about in the earth. For God loves not any man haughty and boast-
ful. But be modest in thy gait, and lower thy voice. Verily, the
most detestable of all voices is the voice of the ass. (XXXI, 17-1B/
r^io)

Such an attitude, which, even in the domain of man-to-man relation-
ship, is sure to incur God's displeasure, attains the highest degree of
sinfulness when taken towards God and His Apostle and Revelation.
In order to understand this point we have only to recall that the name
itself of Islam means nothing but 'humble submission \ Here are
some of the passages which describe in vividly concrete terms the
reaction of this type produced by God's 'signs' in the Kafirs.

May he be accursed— how he estimated [Our signs] I Again, may
he be accursed — how he estimated! He cast a look, then he

! 43

The Analysis of Major Cm&pts

frowned and grimaced, then he stepped back and grew big with
pride (istahbara), and said, ' Ha, this is naught but mafnc trans-
mitted. This is naught but man-made speech!' (LXXXIV, 19-25)

It will be noticed that the most usual term for this bind of arrogance
is istakbara which, as we saw in an earlier chapter, is a derivation
from the root KBR with the basic meaning of 'big', and means
literally 'to become big, puffed up with pride'.

Verily, when it is said to them, 'There is no god but God', they
become big with pride (yttstakbiriina) and say, 'What, shall we
abandon our gods to follow a poet possessed?' (XXXVII, 34.-35/

Then We sent Moses and his brother Aaron with Our signs and a
manifest authority unto Pharaoh and his ministers. But they grew
big with pride (ittakbatfi) — for they were a haughty ('aft) people —
and said, 'What, shall we believe two mortals like ourselves,
when their people are but our servants?* (XXHI, 4.7—4.9/45 ■ 47)

Here, be it remarked, the Qur'anic text uses two different worda,
btuhhara and c alf, so as to express the two different aspects of the
same state of affairs. The first, which is a verb, denotes the arrogance,
as it were, as a dynamic; phenomenon of the moment, that is, as a
sudden outbreak of the violent emotion of scornful anger, while the
second term, which is an adjective meaning 'high 1 , refers obviously
to the inborn quality of haughtiness which is always there, at the
bottom of the mind, ready to break out at any moment at the
slightest instigation. The nest example will make this point still
clearer.

When thy Lord said to die angels, 'Lo, I am about to create a
mortal out of day. When I have shaped him, and breathed into
him of My spirit, fall you down before him in adoration/ So the
angels fell in adoration all together, except Iblis [i.e. Satan] who
became big with pride and proved to be a Kafir. He [God] said,
' Hast thou become proud (iftakbarte) [that is, on the spur of the
moment] or art thou [naturally] a haughty one £ali)V (XXXVIII,
71-76/71-75)

Sometimes the word *ali appears in the nominal form "Whip, the
meaning expressed being exactly the same :

When Our signs came to them, plain to see, they said, 'This is
mere sorcery,' Thus they denied them, though acknowledging
them at bottom, wrongfully and through arrogance ('uluteati).
(XXVI I, i 3 -r 4 )

I++

The Inner Structure of the Concept of Kufr

There is another closely related word tskabbsrs — another verbal
form derived from the root KBR — which is also very often used in
the same sort of contexts. As far as we can judge from its actual
use in the Qur'an, this word, particularly in its participial form
mutakabbir , seems to he used to denote arrogance as a permanent
attribute of the Kafir rather than to describe the momentary out-
burst of the emotion. Tt will be worthy of notice that al-BaydawJ,
commenting on the passage in question explains ""ah by mutahabbir.

I will turn away from My signs those who are puffed up with pride
{yatakabbarurut, from fahabbara) in the earth with no right h If
they see any sign they believe not therein; and if they sec the path
of rectitude they take it not for [their] path ; but if they see the
path of error they take it: for [their] path. All this is because they
cry lies to Our signs and are ever heedless of them. (VII, 143-
144/146)

The next one is particularly important for our purpose because it
brings to light the fundamental relationship that joins shirk, kufr., and
taksbbur into a semantic nexus.

Chains shall be put on their necks, and fetters, and they shall be
dragged into the boiling water, then in the Fire they shall roast.
Then it is said to them, 'Where are all those [gods] that you used
to associate {iuskrikSna) t besides God?' They shall say, l They have
disappeared. Kay, hut [it is clear now that] it was "nothing" that
we used to pray to. 1 Thus docs God lead astray the Kafirs. 'All
this is because you exulted (tafrahuna) in the earth without right,
and were self-complacent (tawrahdna). Enter the gates of Gehenna,
therein to dwell forever. ' Evil Indeed is the last abode of the
arrogant (matakabbir) ones. (XL, 73 76/71 76)

In a similar way, the next quotation discloses the relation of
semantic equivalence that exists between the forging of lies {ifttfa 1
al-kadhib) against God and the attitude of takabiwr (the forgery of
impious lies = arrogance.) And to this, further, is opposed very
significantly the 'fear (taped) of God h .

On the Day of Resurrection thou shaft see those who bed (hsdhsim)
against God, with their faces all blackened. Is there not in Gehenna
final abode for the arrogant {ntutakabbif) ones? But God shall rescue
those who were god-fearing (ittaqate) into a safe refuge, where evil
shall not befall them, nor shall they be grieved. (XXXIX, 6i-6a/
60-61)

The same thought may he expressed by an analytic periphrasis
containing the semanteme of KBR in a purely non-temporal form :
tdbr. Here is an instance of it, which, by the way, interprets the

6 MS

The Analyse of Major Concepts

'wrangling* {JOt,) about God — to be discussed presently — in terms
of 'arrogance 1 in the heart:

Those who wrangle (yujadilvwi) concerning the signs of God
without any authority given them, verily, there is in their breasts

naught but arrogance {kihr), (XL, 58/56)

It goes without saying tliat iitakbara is not the only word for the
impious haughtiness which has formed the subject matter of the
preceding discussion. We have, in effect, already seen instances of
such terms in the adjective l dli and the verb iitatthafa. In old Arahic
there arc a number of other words that are more of leas approximately
synonymous with istakbara (or takabbard), Sonne of them do appear
in the Qut'an with considerable frequency and. serve to spotlight,
each in its way, this or that aspect of the phenomenon of human
arrogance towards God,

1, liagfid, Presumptuousncss must of necessity induce one to pass
beyond the proper hounds of one's sphere in social life. The verb
baghd appears to mean basically 'to act unlawfully and unjustly
against others' out of an excess of self -conceit. Ibn Ishaq, referring
to the moat vehement persecution of the early Muslims by the
Meccan idolaters, uses this word in the description of the situation.
'Quraysh grew arrogant ( c df«) 12 towards God, rejected His grace,
cried lies to His Prophet, persecuted and exiled those who- wor-
shipped Him proclaiming? His Oneness, who believed in His Prophet
and kept to His religion. So He gave permission to His Apostle to
fight and to defend himself against those who did wrong {xalama)
to them and baghd against them.'u The following are some of the
example* of its use in the Qurln.

If God were to spread [i.e. give without measure] His provision
to His servants, they would surely become insolent (haghavB) in
the earth. But He sends down within measure whatever lie pleases.
(XLII, 36/37)

'They would baghd' tliat is, to quote the words of al-BaydawI.
'they would become big with pride [takabbaru) and weak great
corruption (nf&adu) out of insolence {bafar).' This last word will be
explained presently. Here we are merely concerned to point out the
fact the the famous commentator explains baghd by takabbara. This
interpretation finds a strong confirmation in the following passage:

Qarun [i.e. Koran] was of Moses" folk. Put he bagkd against them,
because We had given him so much of the treasures that even the

IS For the mining of [his word, see below, pp. 148-149.
I 3 Ibn. Ishiq, 1, 313.

146

The Ittner Structure of tiss Concept of Kufr

keys thereof were a burden too heavy for a troop of strong men.
When Hie folk said unto him, ' Do not esult (to/raft), for, verily,
God loves not those who exult. ... Do good {tfysirt), just as God
did good to thee. And crave not to work corruption {fasM) in the
earth, for, verily, God Jcwra not those who work corruption/ He
replied; ' What 1 have been given. I owe wholly to my own know-
ledge,' (XXVIII, 76-^8)

Here we see the word bagkd given, as it were, a contextual interpreta-
tion. It is, in the first place, equated with another verb fariha {' Do
not exult', la tafrok), meaning 'to be overjoyed at something'. From
this it becomes clear that boghd refers in particular to the fact of
Korah's being exultant in his wealth, being intoxicated with his
worldly power. Then,/asHji 'corruption ' is mentioned as a concrete
manifestation in behavior of the inner state denoted by boghd; the
meaning of fusad itself is contextually defined in part by being
contrasted with ihsan 'doing good', that is a doing works of kindness
and charity. In the following verse, the word is applied in its nominal
form bugkJ to the conduct of Pharaoh, pursuing Moses and the
Israelites,

Thus We brought the children of Israel across the sea [the Red
Sea], and Pharaoh and his hosts came pursuing them in bagki
and r -adw t till, when he was about to be drowned, he said, *I do
believe that there is no god but He in whom believe the children of
Israel I am a pious believer [lit, one of those who have sur-
rendered].' f Now at last? Before this thou hast ever rebelled against
[Me], and hast done much corruption.* (X, -90-91 ; see also VI,
1+6/1+5)

The word ^adw in the text, which appears often in combination
with bag hi roughly mean3 ' to pass beyond one's limit 1 and thence 'to
act wrongfully'. It may be remarked that again the clement of fatad
is introduced into the context. The phrase, 4 thou hast ever rebelled*
i^a;ayta) brings out another shade of meaning contained in baghi.

The element of 'violence' or 'outrage* may be best perceived in
the following quotation:

Whoso helps himself after having suffered any wrong (zulm) 1 *
[i.e. he who finds himself constrained to have recourse to violence

J * TTic feet that ftilm ' wrong- lining ' and ba$hi were from the beginning roughly
£y:iimyin»u.s \vil] best be Stwn in the Winning veTUe nf the fumoii'; pn -JsbmiL
pxiet -Anti) rnh ; Udfakkim qatu»\l suimaJium it &.a-$aghyah\im * watq-ll<it imaji
'aid ai-qutk maA-bn' d. (flfuMJir, p, (n, v, 5), Here the pott releis !<■ the b*havit>f of
his tribesmen who, having been helped so much in tha past by Antsrth'a awoieL
insult him by calling him a 'Made felknr'. He saysr ' I will remind my trihtismcn of
their •ruim and baght against mc, and of the face that they have treated me an
unjustly -on all nccoaiorvs. 1

147

The Analysis of Major Concepts

as the means of self-defense] — against such, there is no way [of
blame}- The way [of blame] is only against those who do wrong [i.e,
who tike the initiative tn wronging others] and behave insolently
(yabghvw, from bugbd) in the earth. For such there is a painful
torment. (XLII, 39-40/41-42)

2. Bafirs. In the quotation from al^Baydawi, we have just met with
this word in its nominal form, bttfar. The verb mans, roughly, 'to
exult (in one's o*wn wealth, for instance) excessively ' ; it suggests
that One exults so excessively that one conies to behave insolently,
with boastfulness. The Qu.r'an itself does not afford much information
about the semantic structure of this word. But the following example
will Serve to elucidate an important aspect of its meaning:

How many a city have Wc destroyed that exulted excessively
(bafirat) in its opulence ! Look, those are their dwellings, that have
been left uninhabited after them, save indeed a little; We Ourselves
have inherited them. (XXVI II, 58)

This passage may profitably be compared with that which will he
given below as the second of the examples of c at& (LXV, 8), It should
also be remembered that the expression : ' how many a city have We
destroyed that . . . ' is almost a cliche for describing the miserable

end of the Kafirs. This shows that we are still in the domain of htfr.

3. ^Ats. This word is one of the synonyms of the istakbara, and
means approximately 'to be immoderately proud', 'to behave very
haughtily ', and with the preposition r t?n denoting the movement of
turning away 'from' something, means 'to turn away disdainfully
from something Commanded', 'to revolt against an ordinance'.
Judging from many instances of its actual usage, we might perhaps
say that 'akl tends to refer to the concrete, outward manifestations,
whether in conduct or expression, of haughtiness, while istahhara
seems to refer rather to the inner state of haughtiness itself. The first
of the following quotations from the Qur^an would appear to confirm
this interpretation.

Those who expect not the meeting with Us [on the Day of Judg-
ment] say, 'Why is it that the angels are not sent down upon us, or
why do we not see our Lord [i.e. if Muhammad were really God's
Apostle]?' How haughty they have grown (istakbarii) within
themselves, and with what an immoderate arrogance {' ittuwajt. a
nominal form derived from the same root as ^ata) they behave !
(XXV, 23/21)

148

The Inner Stnititire of the Concept of Kufr

How many a city turned away disdainfully ('etat, from -«t&\
from ('an) the commandment of its Lord and His Apostles and
Wc settled accounts severely with it and punished it with an
unwonted chastisement. (LXV, 8)

But when they turned away disdainfully (alow) from ("an) what
they had been forbidden, We said to them, ' Be you apes, repelled
far away! 1 (VII, 166)

4. Tagkd. This verb is another synonym of istakbara, which plays
an important role in the Qur'an. Starting from the image of water
rising so high as to exceed the bounds and overflow the banks, it
came to mean, as a metaphor, the attitude of contumely or rebellious
pride. Thus, according to Professor Montgomery Watt, he who
fagk d is a ' man who presses on regardless of obstacles, and especially
regardless of moral and religious considerations} who allows nothing
to stop him and has unbounded confidence in his own powers 1 , and
in the specific contexts of the Qur'an it denotes 'the absence of a
sense of creatureltness, , . . linked with disregard or dental of the
Creator.' 15 The Arab philologist, ahBaydawT, in his commentary on
Surah XXIII, 77 says that fugftyan (nominal form) implies 'an excess
in kufr, man's being too puffed up with pride (istikbar) to accept the
Truth, and an open hostility against the Apostle and the believers. 1
Jtigh&n is often used in combination with kufr^ showing that the
two words are almost synonymous:

That which has been sent down unto thee [Muhammad] is sure to
increase many of them [i.e. the Jews] in fugkyan and kufr. (V,
09/64 ; see also 72/6S)

As for the boy [tilled]., his parents were believers and we feared
lest he [the boy, who was not 'pure', i.e. irreligious, and was
always 'rude 1 to his parents — cf, verse 80] should impose on
rhem pigkyon and kufr, (XVIII, 79/80)

Sometimes fugky&ti is given as the immediate cause of tahdhib.
Note that in the following quotation the word appears in a slightly

different form; faghwd. The meaning is exactly the same.

[The people of] Thamud cried lies [to their Aposde] in their
faghxad, when the most wretched of them rose up [as God's
Apostle]. (XCI, 1 1 -1 2)

Tughy&n is sometimes used in place of ttifdq, the attitude of those
who, when they meet the believers, say, 'We are with you , we believe
in God and the Last Day', but, when they are alone 'with their

" W*tt. p. 67.

14J

The Analysis of Major Concepts

Sataiis', say, 'How shall we believe, as fools do? We have only been
mocking.' (II, 13/14) The Qur'an uses the word tughyiin very aptly
to describe this type of malicious conduct.

God mocks them [i.e. the truth is that it is not they, but God that

is mocfcing], and leaves them to wander blindly in their fughydn.
(II r 14/15)

It is to be noted that 'to wander blindly' ('amttka} is a verb that
appears very frequently in combination with tughyan, forming thus
one of the most usual set phrases in use in the Qurian. The precise
implication of this set phrase, 'to wander blindly in ittgkydn, is
brought out more clearly when it is employed to describe tlie state
of those who, well-pleased with the life of the present world, remain
utterly heedless of God's signs.

Verily, those who expect not the meeting with Us and are well-
pleased with the life of the present world and are comfortably
at home therein,, and those who are heedless of Our signs-"'
their dwelling 1 shall be the Fire. . . , But [for the time being] We
shall leave those who expect not the meeting with Us wandering
blindly in their fugkyda. (X, 7-8, 1 2/7-8, 1 1)

In the Following passage, l he who ftighd and remains attached to
the enjoyments of the present life ' is directly contrasted with ' him

who fears God and restrains his soul from worldly desires 1 .

As for him who tagltd and preferred the life of this world, verily,
Hell shall be his dwelling-place. But as for him who lived in fear
and awe of the majesty of his Lord and restrained his soul from
lust, verily, Paradise shall be his dwelling-place. (LXXIX, 37-41)

In the last-quoted passage reference was made incidentally to the
' fear of God ' as an opposite of tughySn. The word actually used wa3
khajd which littrtlly means *to he afraid of and is often used in the
Qur'an synonymously with taqwd (or more exactly, with the oorrcs-
pondiog verb from the same root, ittuqti,) This last word is also some-
times employed actually in the text in such a way as to make a formal
Contrast to tughd. Here is an instance of it :

For the godfearing (muttaqin, participial form of ittaqd) there is
prepared a good dwelling-place, Gardens of Eden, the doors where-
of are open to them. . . . But, verily, for the fa£fa"n (part. pi. of
ttighd) there is prepared an evil dwelling-place, Gehenna, wherein
they shall roast. (XXX VII 1, 40-50, 55-56)

5. Istftghnd, Closely related to \sghd in meaning is the verb istogfc-ud
which is also used to denote an excess of self-confidence in man.

ISO

The Inner Structure of the Concept of Kufr

But of couise there is also a considerable difference in semantic
structure between the two. In the case of taghd the underlying image
ia, as I noted above, that of water overflowing the banks, htaghnd
suggests the basic meaning of being rich or wealthy, the root being

gh-m- y.

Every reader of the Qur'an must know that it constantly emphasizes
the idea of God being ' rich ', gkatd, in the sense that He is rich enough
to stand all alone, i,e, that He is absolutely independent and self-
sufficient. Now in the case of man, the assumption of such self-
sufficiency betrays the lack of a sense uf creatureliness; it is nothing
but ptesumptuousness and arrogance, involving as it does the denial
of God as the Creator. Istaghnd is the word for this kind of pre-
sumptuousness. It literally means 'to consider one's self rich', and
consequently "to put unbounded confidence in one's own power'.
It is interesting to note that in the following passage which purports
to describe the constitution of human nature in general, these two
words appear side by side as almost synonymous:

Nay, verily, man proves himself to be insolent (yafgkd, from
fagks), [by the fact] that he regards himself as self-sufficing
{istaghnd}, (XCVI, 6-7)

In the nest passage from XCII, the parallelism of construction
puts this verb Utaghiui in opposition to ittaqd, 'to fear God 1 .

As for him who gives alms and is godfearing (Man drtd toa-{i)ttaqd^
and believes as true the best reward to be given him on the Last
Day, We shall surely mate his way easy to the comfort. But as for
him who grudges arid regard* himself as self-sufficing {Mati
itahfiila ttxi-{i)tLttgfttnf), and cries lies to the best reward, We shall
mate his way easy to the Distress, {XCII, 5-11)

The antithetic relationship which is clearly observable here between
'fear of God ' with the accompanying attribute of 'open-handedness
(in, God's way)' and istaghnd with the accompanying attribute of
'stinginess', would give, particularly in the light of what was said in
Chapter V, a vety instructive glimpse into the Semantic Structure
of the word htaghnd.

0. Jof/idr, He who magnifies himself to such a degree that he
considers himself 'rich* enough to stand alone tends naturally to be

domineering over his fellows in all affairs, and desires to wield an
unlimited tyrannical power over them, "fabbdr is the word for such a
man. In the first example that follows the word qualifies ' heart \

not man, but the reference is evidently to the Kafirs in. general. It is

Tki Amlytis of Major Concepts

noteworthy that the word appears alongside mutakohhiti showing
that the two are almost identical in meaning.

Thus docs God put a seal on every insolent (mutakabbir) and jabber
heart. (XL, 37/35)

In the next ejnamplc, an important sidelight is thrown on the
meaning of jeAbdr by the fact that, besides being reinforced by an
adjective meaning 'rebellious', it is contrasted sharply with words

implying loving-kindness and piety.

And We gave him [John, son of Zachariah] discretion when yet a
little boy, and grace from Us, and purity ; and he was godfearing
(Caff) and pious ibarr) towards his parentSj and was not insolent
{jabbar}., rebellious ( z aa). (XIX, 13-14/12-14)

The following passage furnishes another good example of jabbdr
used in a precisely similar sort of situation. l"hese words are put in
the mouth of Jesus.

He [Cod] has enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving SO long
as 1 live, and piety towards my mother. He has not made mc

insolent (jabbdr), miserable. (XI X, 33-33/31^32)

Mocking at Revelation

The attitude of 'arrogance' and 'haughtiness', which has been de-
scribed in the preceding section as typical of those who refuse to
believe, may appear in a number of different forms. In fact, all the
distinguishable aspects of the phenomenon of kttfr are nothing but
so many manifestations of this basic attitude. Of all of them, how-
ever, two concepts stand out in the Qur'in as most directly connected
with the 'arrogance* of the Kafirs. One is mocking at whatever the
Prophet has brought, and the other is contentiousness.

The Qur : an describes repeatedly the Kafirs Sneering at God and
all that He sends down. This mocking attitude is pointed out as
most characteristic of them. We have already seen that the people of
JahiJlyah as they are mirrored in the Qur'ao, were characterized by
jovial levity and foolish carelessness. We know also already that this,
carelessness originated in their worIdly»mindedness. For those who
saw nothing beyond the present earthly life, a religion preaching the
eternal future life could in any way be no more than a laughing-stock,
The most usual expressions for the mocking attitude of this Sort in the
Qur'an are ittakhadha husafan {'to take for mockery') and istaksa'a
('to mock at') both deriving from the root HZ\ The quotations
that follow are, se manticaily, of special importance in that they bring

152

The Jjater Structure of the Concept of Kufr

out, each in its own way, the close relationship that exists between
skirk-kufr and istakza'a.

Proclaim loudly whatever thou art commanded, and pay no
attention to those who 'associate 1 {mushrik}. Verily, Wc defend
thee From the mockers {mtistakxFiti, participial form of istahsaa),
from those who set up with God other gods. (XV, 94-96)

Whenever the Kafirs behold the*, they make a mockery of thee,

[saying] ' Is this the fellow who talks |disparagingly] of your gods?'
Thus they deny utterly the Reminder of the Merciful God,

{XXI, 37/36)

Such is their recompense: Gehenna, because they acted [in the
world] as Kafirs, making a mockery of My signs and My Aposdes.
(XVIII, 106)

Sakhita, or t'ttaiftftara (root S-KH-R) is another word meaning
the same thing as ittahsefa, and is used in the Qur'in in exactly the
same kind of contexts. Just as the connotation of istahzd may be
'transposed' analytically by a periphrasis consisting of a verb and
a noun: ittakhadha hustfatt-, so s&hhira or utaskham may be analytic-
ally replaced by ittakfwihda sikhrfyan, the latter half of this phrase
being a noun derived from the same root S-KH-R. The synonymic
relationship between istakza'a and sakhira is best recognisable in the
first of the following quotations.

Apostles have been mocked at (ustukzi'a, passive construction)
before thee [Muhammad], those that mocked (takhira) at them
[i.e. the Apostles] ended by being surrounded on all sides by that
which they used to mock at {yastahxfuna). (VI, 10; sec also XXI,
43/41)

Thou [Muhammad] art filled with wonder [at God's omnipotence],
but they [do nothing but] mock {yoshkatHna, From S-KH-Ry
When they are reminded, they remember not, and when they
sec a sign, they mock at it (yaslatkhirvnd), and say, 'This is
obviously naught but sorcery.' (XXXVII, 13-15)

[God will say, on the Day of Judgment, to the Kafirs in Gehenna],
'Verily, there was a party of My servant* who used to say, "Our
Lord, we believe, so forgive us, and have mercy upon us, for Thou
art the best of the merciful ones,' You, however, took them for
mockery {itiakhadkiuirtShum iikhrtyan), and in laughing at them
you were led to forget My remembrance. (XXItt, 11 1-113/
109-110)

153

The Analysis 0/ Major Concepts

Contentiousness

The 'haughtiness' of the Kafirs may take a different, more serious,
course in manifesting itself concretely; contentiousness. As wt saw
above, the Kafirs are born sceptics and rationalists. They do not
surrender easily to the commandments of (rod transmitted by the
Prophet, if they perceive in the revealed words anything discordant
with what their Reason acknowledges as true. The theory of the
unicity of God, for example, or that of resurrection after death is, to
their sceptical minds, simply absurd and unacceptable. Hence their
tendency to ' plunge into disputes ' concerning God and the prophetic
mission of Muhammad.

The Quran mentions as one of the most characteristic traits of the
sceptically minded to be always putting embarrassing questions to
the Prophet concerning his mission and wrangling among themselves
about the divine Truth.

Would you go on questioning your Apostle just as Moses was
questioned aforetime? But whoso chooses disbelief (Aiifr) instead
of belief (hn£n) has surely gone astray from the right way. (II,
102/108)

Vain arguiog or wrangling about God and Revelation is a typical
manifestation of hufr. The root JDL, whose primary meaning is
that of "twisting (things like ropes) tight and firm*, presents the fit
image for (bis kind of vehement altercation.

None wrangle {ytijMUu t from JDL) concerning the signs of God
save those who disbelieve (feti/arti). So let not their bustling in the
land deceive thee. The people of Noah before them also used to
cry lies, and all the parties thereafter. Every nation wished to
seize their Apostle, and wrangled (jadulu) with vain discourse,
that they might refute thereby the Truth, (XL, 4-5)

We send not the Apostles save as bearers of good tidings and as
warners. But those who disbelieve wrangle with vain discourse,
that they might refute thereby the Truth. They take My signs and
the warnings given them in mockery. (XVIII, 54/56)

Amongst men there are those who wrangle {yujadilu) concerning
God without knowledge, without guidance, and without an
illuminating Scripture, turning away to seduce [others] out of the
way of God. For such men is ignominy in the present world, and
on the I>ay of Resurrection, We shaM make them taste the chastise-
ment of burning. (XXI Ij 8-y; see also XXXI, 19/20)

Although there is no explicit reference to huff in this quotation, the
contextual situation makes it beyond any doubt clear that 'those

154

The Inner Structure of the Concept of Kuft

who wrangle' are no other than typical Kafirs, The same is true of
the following examples, the first of which is of particular interest
scmanticaily in that it sees this sort of altercation in its relation to the
haughtiness and arrogance of the mind.

Those who wrangle {ytijMUQna) concerning the signs of God,
without any warrant given them— this is greatly hateful in the
sight of God and those who believe, Thus does God put a seal on
every insolent and arrogant heart, (XL, 37/35)

When, the son of Mary [Jesus] is mentioned as an example, lo ! thy
folk turn away from it and say, "Are our gods better, or is he?'
They mention him not to thee, save for wrangling [jadafy Nay,
but they are an extremely contentious people [the word here
rendered as 'extremely contentious 1 is kkasim from KH-S-M
meaning one who is particularly fond of wrangling, and tends to
be very vehement in dispute}. (XLIII, 57-58)

From innumerable cases of this sort God Himself draws the conclu-
sion that man is the most contentious of all creatures.

We have verily displayed for men in this Qur^n all manner of
similitudes, and yet [most of them stubbornly refuse to believe] ;
man is indeed the most contentious of all things {shikar shay 1
jadslatt). (XVII 1, 52-/54)

l 55

VIIL The Semantic
Field of Kufr

IN 1HE FRECliLUNG CHAPTER I ENtJEAVOUTlED TO ANALYSE Tilt INNER

■structure" of the concept of kufr itself. The picture will not be com-
plete, however, unless wc consider analytically the other key terms
that surround this major concept. The conceptual network formed by
these closely related words is what we call the semantic field of kufr.

As a matter of fact, kufr is not only the most comprehensive term
for all negative cthico-religious values recognized a3 such in the
Qur'an, but it functions as the very center of the whole sytem of
'negative' properties. This would seem to imply that we grasp the
real nature of kufr only when we know the nature of the elements
that go to form the whole system itself. The purpose of the present
chapter is to analyze semantically these elements. The key words
that will be dealt with ate five; (i) fisq or fuiuq (adj.-nom, fdsiq),
(2) fojr or fufSr (adj.-nom, fajir), (3) zubn (adj.-nom, i?&iim), (4)
i'tidd > (adj.-n.om. mu'tadi) t and (5} f mi/ (adj.-nom. musrif).

Fdsiq

This word is of particular importance from the standpoint of
Islamic thought, for, unlike the remaining four, it is destined to play

156

The Semantic Field of Kufr

an exceedingly significant role later in theology, as a key technical
term having a definite meaning of murtukib kahltoh 'one who has
committed a grave £.'m\ At the Qur'anic stage, however, the word

has as yet no such technical meaning. This point must be kept in
mind when we try to analyze its semantic structure within the
Quranic context.

Fdsiq as a synonym of kdfir. Fdsiq — and, for that matter, the other
four terms as well — has much in common in semantic structure with
kafir, so much so that in many cases it proves extremely difficult to
make a distinction between them. I shall begin by giving a typical
example of fdsiq used synonymously with kdfir. Thus it is related
concerning Abu c Amir, who was a well-known ascetic in Jahillyah
and had won the by-name of rdhib 'monk', and who was socially a
very influential man hi Medina about the time of Hijrah, that he
stubbornly refused to the last to believe in Muhammad's God
although most of his tribe accepted the faith of Islam, and even
positively abandoned them and went over to Mecca with a few of
chose who remained faithful to htm. Upon this, Muhammad is said
to have remarked, 'Don't call him henceforward the "monk", nut
call him the/aw^,' 1 Muhammad might well have used the word Mfir
instead of fdsiq. Indeed, this little piece of tradition gives us an im-
portant clue as to what type of conduct deserves the use of this word
from the standpoint of Islam, hut as to the distinction to he drawn
between kufr and fisq it furnishes practically no information, except
perhaps that it suggests that the distinction, if there be any, must
be one of degree rather than of quality. It would appear, in other
words, that kufr, when it exceeds a certain degree, turns intojif-g:
that is, fhq is a higher degree of kufr, and fdsiq — one who is char-
acteriited by the quality of fisq — is a very stubborn kind of kafir,
as al-Bayd5wI remarks in his commentary.

The most commonly accepted view is that fisq means khwruj
c an al-ftfak, lit. *gomg out of obedience', i.e. 'disobeying God's
commands ', and that, therefore, fdsiq is a term of wider application
than kafir; anybody who disobeys God in any sense may be called
fdsiq, while kafir has a much more restricted sense. This may be
tme, but it tells almost nothing concrete about the semantic structure
of fisq as it is actually used in the Qur'an,

In any case, all we can say at this stage of analysis is that fdsiq is
synonymous with kafir. Before turning to more concrete conditions
of its use, I should like tg quote here a verse in which kufr and fisq are
almost completely equated with each Other.

Tbd I*t»q, I„4-li.

l 57

The Analysis of Major Concepts

Verily, We have sent down upon thee (Muhammad] signs, tokens
manifest, and none will disbelieve {yokfurtt) therein save the
fSsiqQn (pi. offast'q). (If, 93/99)

Distordatitt between words and deeds. Apparently, the next example
throws no further Light on this problem, for it is obvious that it
does nothing but confirm the equivalence between fisq and kufr.

Verily, they disbelieved {kafaru) in God and His Aposde, And died
as/wj'^». (IX, 85/84)

What is implied here is that fisq is a state resulting from one's having
acted in a kafir way towards God and the Prophet. When, however,
we give somewhat closer attention to this quotation by placing it
back in the concrete contest from which it has been taken, it becomes
clear at once that it refers to those who, though usually making a
great show of religious ze$l as 'good Muslims \ betray their real
selves by declining on some pretext or other to take part in the com-
mon cause of jihad, the Holy War, being averse to state their life and
possessions on such a precarious matter. This principle of 'all toll;
and no action', the lip devotion followed by downright betrayal by
bchavior, would seem to be the element which plays a decisive role
jn the Quranic verses in determining the characteristic trait of a
/dtrij. The following words that are put in the mouth of Moses present
a further example c-f tlie use of this term in an exactly similar sort of
situation:

He said, ' My Lord, I have verily no command except over myself
and my brother [Aaron]. Therefore do divide between us and these
fasiq people.* (V r 28/25)

This he says to God when his people, who have hitherto followed him,
suddenly declare that they refuse to fight against enormous odds in
spite of his encouraging words, 'Enter the gate against them! If
you enter it, you are sure to win the battle. Put your trust in God, if
you are really believers 1* In the last analysis, this, too, is doubtless
a manifestation of kufr, but there is added to it a special nuance, so
to speak, which makes it semantical!}- rather closer to uifaq religious
hypocrisy* than pure kufr. And, in effect, we have an instance
affirming formally and openly that the 'hypocrites' are people of
fisq.

Verily, the hypocrites aiefdiiq people. (IX, 68/67)

The passage that follows also concerns the rich who pay lip-service
to Muhammad to please him, but, when it comes to endangering their
lives and possessions, turn their back on him and do not participate
in the Holy War,

I5 8

The Smentic Field 0/ Kufr

They will swear to you so that you may be pleased with them*

But even if you arc pleased with them, God will never be pleased
with fan fasiq people. (IX, 97/96)

The same is true of the following example which is taken from the
same Surah. I give it here because it enumerates in detail those
elements that are liable to drive the wavering believers from the way
of faith into the vice of fisq.

If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your tribe,,
and the wealth you have accumulated, and the trade for which you
fear depression, and the dwellings you are so contented with — if
[these things] are dearer to you than God and His Apostle and
fighting in I lis way, then wait till God brings His command to
pa3s. God will never guide the fdtiq people. (IX, 14)

Again in the same Surah (40-60), we have a still more detailed
description of the main traits of the fosiq. Instead of quoting the
lengthy passage here, I shall content myself with summarizing the

/stt^-making characteristics- that can be gathered from the text,

1. The/4rij swear by God that they are on the side of the believers.
This they only do because they are afraid of the military power of
the Muslims.

2. At bottom they arc disbelievers {kafir), and they will continue
being such until their souls depart in the state of kttfr.

3. Their *rar/j , -nature is betrayed by their conduct; they come to
worship only idly, and they do not expend of their wealth in the
way of God save reluctantly. Concerning this point, Muhammad is
commanded to declare to them, 'Whether you expend willingly or
unwillingly, it shall not be accepted from you, for yon are surely a
fasiq people!*

4. When pressed to behave more piously, they say, ' Leave me alone
and do not tempt me.'

5. It some good fortune befalls Muhammad, they get annoyed, but
if some evil befalls him, they rejoice and leave him exultantly.

6. They are always grumbling about the way al; are divided; if
they are given a share they are satisfied, if not, they get angry, They
forget or ignore that the alms are collected to be used in aid of the
poor and needy and that they, being of the wealthier class, have no
claim to any share.

As far as we can gather from this description, & fosiq is not a down-
right kafir, fur, nominally at least, he is in the camp of the Muslims.
Only, he is a wavering, very unreliable kind of a Muslim who tends
to reveal his nr/df -nature on every occasion.

159

The Analysts of Major Concepts

Disloyalty or treachery. The nifaq-mtwi of these people comes out
prominently in matters involving faithfulness to any bond or treaty
they happen to have made. The first of the following examples dis-
closes particularly well this relationship between their readiness to
say whatever may please Muhammad and his followers and their
absolute disregard for all duty of loyalty.

If they chance to have the upper hand of you, they will not observe
towards you any pact or bond. They try to satisfy you with their
mouths, while their hearts refuse, for most of them are but
fMqwt. {IX, S)

We foond no [loyalty to a] covenant in moat of them. Kay, we

found most of them fasiqun. (VII, ioo/ioi)

Then whosoever after this [i.e. after having made a solemn cove-
jiant with God to bear His load whatever might happen] turns
away— these are the fasiqutt, (III, 76/82)

The fasiqun who break the covenant of God after having entered
into it, and sever what God has commanded to he joined, and work,
corruption in. the earth — these shall be the losers. (II, 25/27)

In Surah XLIII, 45-55/46-55, we find/inf predicated of the Pharaoh
and his people. The reason for this is as follows, God sent Moses
with His clear signs to them and let him declare, 'I am the Apoatle
of the Lord of the worlds,' They only laughed at the divine signs.
When, however, God seized them with the painful torment, they
addressed Moses saying, 'O thou wizard, entreat for us thy Lord
by the covenant lie has made with thee. We promise, we will surely
turn to the right way. 1 But w'hed God removed from them the
torment, they broke their word without the slightest compunction.
Pharaoh, moreover, proclaimed among his people, *0 my people,
am I not the lord of Egypt, with tliese rivers flowing under me?
Can you not see? 1 am better than this contemptible fellow who can
hardly -mkt: himself understood.' And thus he made his people
waver, and finally they obeyed him, The conclusion drawn from this
is:

Verily they were a. fasiif people (v. 54)

Acting against Gad's WiU. To act against God's Will, whether in the
sense of violating a ban or in that of not carrying out a command
given, is often denounced in the Qur^an as fisq worthy of the most
severe punishment. Sometimes this goes a step further and then fisq
appears to denote the object of divine abhorrence itself.

160

The Semantic Field of Kufr

When Wc ordered the angels, 'Bow in revcrenee to Adam', they
all bowed, save lblis, who was one of the jinn. He faiaqa against
{i.e. committed jiiq against, or, disobeyed) the Command of his
Lord. (XVIII, 48/50)

This example makes it undeniably clear that fisq in certain contexts
denotes nonperformance of what has been commanded by God. The
following one concerns precisely the contrary case: doing what has
been prohibited.

When you traffic with each other, you. should have witnesses. Let

not either scribe or witness be compelled [to do anything wrong].
If you do this, it is fusiiq (—faq) in you. You should fear God.
(II, 282)

'What God has prohibited 1 means naturally what He has found
abominable, detestable. Hence fisq appears sometimes to come very
near the meaning of ' an abomination (in the eyes of God) '. In the
Qur'Sn the game of maysir (a kind of gambling by divining arrows),
eating what has been hallowed to other than God, sodomy, slandering
and the like, are all called fisq.

Eat not of that whereon God's name has not been pronounced at

the time of slaughtering. Verily, it is an abominable act {jiiq).
(VI, izi)

Verily, Wc arc about to send down upon the people of this city
[Sodom] wrath from heaven because of that they have committed
jiiq [meaning sodomy]. (XXIX, 33/34)

Those who accuse [of fornication] virtuous women but bring not
four witnesses . . . those are fasiqUn. (XXIV, 4)

Fisq as apposed to hnan. Speaking mote generally, all acts that point
to the underlying huff as opposed to ttttds (belief or faith) may be
called fisq. Thus in the two following examples we see fdsiq directly
opposed to the believer.

If they [people of the Scripture] had really believed in God and
the Prophet and that which has been revealed to him, they would
not have taken these [idolaters] for their friends. But [the truth is
that] many of them are faftqfri< (V, 84/8 r)

Here, it is clear, the 'people of the Scripture 1 , in this case the Jews,
are called faiiquti because 'they do not really believe in God and
Revelation ', the undeniable evidence of that being the fact that 'they
are on friendly terms with the idolaters,*

i6r

The Analysis of Major Conceptt

Had die people of the Scripture believed, it would have been better
for them. True, there are a few believers among them, but most
of them are fSsiqun. (Ill, 106/ up)

The same state of affairs is described in somewhat different terms
in the next passage. Note that the expression 'their hearts have
hardened' is, as. we saw earlier, a standing phrase for the stubborn-
ness peculiar to the Kafirs, while 'humbleness of heart' is one of the
distinguishing marks of a true believer.

Is it not high time that the hearts of those who believe should
become humhle to the remembrance of God and what Truth He
has sent down, and that they should no longer be JiJse those who
were given the Scripture formerly? They became impatient of
delay, and their hearts have grown hard, So that many of them are
fasupm, {L-VII, 15/16)

As &MB means to follow the guidance of God and thus to go the right
way, he who does not do so is afasiq.

We sent Noah and Abraham [as Our Apostles] and put the
Prophethood and Revelation among their seed. And of them there
are some who arc well-guided (muhtadt), but many of them are

jasiqun. {LV1I, 36)

For a similar reason, 'to forget God 1 is to commit Jhq. It will be
noteworthy that the following verse accounts for this matter in this
way: him who forgets God, God in His turn induces to forget his own
soul so that he may become a.fdsiq.

Be you not like those who forgot God, and whom He caused to
forget their own souls. These are the fdtiqsin. (LTX, 19)

We might add that in Surah X, 34/33, the phrase alkdhtna
fasaqu, i.e. those who commit jisq, is applied to the idolaters {mush-
rikwt) who 'associate other gods' with God. Thuj it 13 clear that
shirk also is a case of fuq,

Fdjir

Unlike fdsiq, which we have been considering, the word fdjir {fajr,
fujur) does not become later a technical term in Islamic theology.
In this particular sense, it has no post-Qur'anic history. But, of
course, as an ordinary, non-technical moral term, it continues to
play in post-Qur^arric literature the same important role as it used
to do in Jahiliyah And sometimes in theology, we find the word
used to designate the 'negative* category within the concept of
tnu'Ttun, 'believer 1 , as opposed to the * positive * category which is
designated by the word burr. Here, fdjir refers to a believer who

162

The Semantic Field of Kufr

conducts himself badly, who, for instance, commits the sin of drink-
ing wine.

In al-Fiqh al-Akbar attributed to Abu HanJfah, for example, we
read: al-ialat hhalfakulibarr wa-fdjir miti al-mtr'mimn ja'izah, which
means 'Prayer behind a "believer" msi'min is permissible, whether
he be "of good conduct" barr or "of bad conduct '"fdjir.' 2 Here, as
is evident, fdjir is a ' man of bad conduct', and yet he is still counted
as a member of the Muslim community. In the Qur'an there ts as
yet no such definite semantic delimitation.

In fact, the Quran does not furnish much information concerning
this word except perhaps that it is rougldy synonymous with k&jir.
The underlying meaning is said to be that of 'deviating'; thence it
comes to mean metaphorically ' to depart from the (right) way ' and
then, 'to do an immoral deed'. It is interesting to note in this
Connection that in one passage the verb fojora seems even to do pre-
cisely the job which is usually assigned to kafara ; that of denoting
refusal to believe in the eschatological teaching of Islam about
Resurrection,

Eh, docs man think that We shall not be able to assemble his
bones? Yea, We arc able to reshape even his finger tips. Nay, but
man desires to disbelieve fvsffttra) in what lies so far ahead, asking
"When will be that Day of Resurrection?' (LXXV, 3-6)

There is, indeed, some uncertainty as to whether the above inter-
pretation of the phrase, ysfjura smdmaku be right. If it is right—
and it is possible that it ir— then atitdmaku (lit, 'what is before him 1 )
would refer to the occurrence of Resurrection, and this would be
quite of a piece with the context. Another passage may well be cited
as affording a striking confirmation of the view here taken. In it we
see lakdhlh of the Day of Judgment mentioned as the characteristic
mark of all fdjirs.

Nay, indeed, the record of Thefujjar (pi. at fdjir) is in Sijjirt. . - .

Woe upon that day [i.e. on the Day of Judgment] unto those who
cry Jie3 to the Day of Judgment! None cries lies to it save every
sinful muHadi* (LXXX11I, 7-12)

In the following verse fujur (nominal form of fajara) is formally
contrasted with toqtud * the fear of God ' with which we are by now
quite familiar :

By the sold, and Him who fashioned it, and inspired into it fujur

or tooted. (XCI, 7-8)

! As given in S/mrufi al-Fiqh ai = Abhor, Oomm. no. t Wrongly attributed V> at
MSturfdE, ind pr., Hydtsibad-Dn., 1 jfij, p. 53 ; also A. J. Wcnaincfe, The Mmtim
Crttd (Cambridge, 1931), p. iQa> Ait, 13.

3 For this ward see below, pp. 173-174,

163

The Analysis of Major Concepts

This verse asserts that God, in creating each hjenan Sou.1., inspires
into it either the spirit of pious fear or its contrary, fujvr. This alone
tells us a great deal about the semantic structure of the latter word:
at least it strongly suggests that the meaning of fajia- has much to do
with that aspect of ku/r which is directly opposed to the fear of God.
In fact, the word fdjir appears sometimes alongside of kafir in the
Quran.

Noah said, ' My Lord b leave not upon the earth the kafir, not even
one of them ! IF thou shouldst leave them, they will mislead Thy
servants, and will beget only fdjir -kajfiir (emphatic form of kafir). '
(LXXI, 27-28)26-37)

Some faces on that day [i.e. the Day of Resurrection] shall he
illumined, laughing, beaming with joy. And some faces 00 that
day, covered with dust, overspread with darkness — these are the
kefamh (pi. of teftr)-fajarah {pi. of fdjir). (LXXX, 38-42)

Finally, I shall quote a passage tn which fajir is opposed to barr.
The same conceptual opposition of fdjir and &arr (or barr] we already
met with above in the quotation from al~Fiqhal~Akbar , There we trans-
lated fajir 'nf had conduct 1 and barr 'of good conduct'. Within the
Qur'anic context, however, bdtr has a mote complex semantic struc-
ture. We shall deal with it in Chapter XI. For the time being we may
he content with saying that the word describes the characteristic
quality of a man who is particularly obedient to God, who, moreover,
manifests his pious nature by behaving with extraordinary kindness
and affection towards all bis neighbors, whether kindred or strangers.
The men of this type naturally go to Paradise. The fujjdr? who re-
present the opposite type, go to HelL

Verily, the abrdr (pi. of barr) shall be in [Heavenly] bliss, while the
fujjdr (another pi form of fdjir) shall be in the Fire, to roast
therein on the Day of Judgment, nor shall they ever be removed
therefrom. (LXXXH, 13-16)

ZaJim

The word salim, as we have often seen, is generally translated in
English as 'wrong-doer* or 'evil-doer', and the corresponding
nominal form zttlm variously as 'wrong', 'evil', 'injustice', and
'tyranny 1 . The root plays an excsecttingly important role in the
Quran. It is not too much to say that it is one of the most important
negative value words in the Qur'an. Indeed, we encounter the root
on almost every page of the Scripture under a variety of forms.
The primary meaning of ZLM is, in the opinion of many of the

164

The Semantic Field ofKufr

authoritative lexicographers, that of 'putting in a wrong place 1 .
In the sphere of ethics it seems to mean primarily 'to act in such a
way as to transgress the proper limit and encroach upon the right of
some other person.' Briefly and generally speaking, sulm is to do
injustice in the sense of going beyond one's own bounds and doing
what one has no right to. It is very interesting to note in this connec-
tion that the Qur'an repeats everywhere that God does not wrong
(ya%itm, a verb form of ztrfm) anyone 'even by the weight of an ant*
or 'by a single date-thread ',4 In one passage God Himself declares
that He will never wrong the believers.

I do absolutely no wrong [lit: 1 am not a stallam, an emphatic
form of $slw} to My servants! (L, 38/39)

The ' wrong', in the case of God, refers mostly to the Last Judgment ;
in Other words, and in more concrete terms, it consists in God's
paying every soul in full according to its deeds on earth. A good deed
He will double, a. bad deed He will punish; in any case man will
never be wronged.

Today [this is said on the very Day of Judgment] each soul shall
be rewarded according to that which it has earned. There shall

be no wrong (zutm) on this day. {XL, 17)

Fear a day in which you will be brought back to God. Then, each
soul shall be paid in full that which it has earned, and they shall
not be wronged {yuslamtina, pass, construction). (II, 281)

If only thou couldstsee when the angels bring to death the Kafirs,
beating them 011 their faces and their backs, ' Taste you the chas-
tisement of burning, All this is on account of what your hands
have sent on before. You see, God is no sallam towards His ser-
vants.' (VIII, 53-53/50-51)

God's punishment may visit a community of men even before
the Day of Judgment, in this very world. The numerous ruins of
cities that flourished in ancient times are regarded as visible 'signs'
of the dreadful wrath of God. But in such cases, too, God is said to
have destroyed the cities only when their inhabitants fully deserved
it, and that only after He bad repeatedly given them warnings through
His Apostles. For if lie had punished men while they were doing
right, or — in the case of the wrong-doers — without warning, He
would have acted unjustly (bt-zuim, lit. 'with fubn')

Thy Lord would never destroy towns with zulm, while their people

were doing good deeds (mttfU'hwt),5 (XI, 110/117)

* See for inrtinw IV, 44/4$; 5Zj40>

3 From the root $Ltf\ ace below, Chapter XI, pp. 204-207.

,65

The Analysis of Major Concepts

Thy Ijond would never destroy towns with zttlm, white their
people were heedless [i.e. without giving warnings beforehand],
(VI, I3 i)

Thu9 men are made to beat the consequences of their own deeds.
Even the torment of the Fine which all evil-doers are to suffer will
after all be of their own making. Hence the concept of suftn al-nafs
(lit, 'wronging of the soul', i.e. 'doing wrong to one's- own soul, or
one's self) which we find expressed very frequently in the Qurlin
in connection with that of the divine chastisement of evil-doers.
'God wrongs nobody; man wrongs himself.'

Whoso docs that [i.e, transgresses the limits set by God] has
wronged his soul [or himself] (saiamu nafsahu). (II, 231)

As for the Kafirs, their wealth shall be of no avail at all, nor their
children, against God. They are the fellows of the Fire, dwelling
therein forever, 'lire likeness, of what they spend in this life of the
world is as the likeness of wind, ice-cold, that smites the tilth of a
people who have wronged themselves, and damages it. God
wrongs them not, but they wrong themselves. (Ill, 112-113/
116-117)

Coming down now from the sphere of God T s activity to tliat of
human conduct, we may remark, to begin with, that the occurrence
of zu.im is possible in two different directions: (t) from man to God,
and (2) from man to man. In the first direction, zuim consists in
man's transgressing the limits of human conduct imposed by God
Himself, while in the second, it is to go beyond the bounds of proper
conduct in social life, recognized as such by the society, though, as a
matter of actual fact, it proves extremely difficult or even impossible
to distinguish between the two directions, for God in the Quranic
conception interferes in the minutest details of human affairs. Thus
in Surah XII, the Chapter of Joseph, 75, the committing of a theft
is assessed in purely human terms, as a case of xulm.

' This shall be the penalty* He in whose bag the goblet is found
shall be the penalty [i.e. he shall pay the penalty by allowing
himself to be detained]. We [Egyptians] are accustomed to requite
the $&tim in this way,' (XII, 75)

But in Surah V, 4.3/38, we find the same sort of act talked of as a
case of sulm committed against God,

But whoso repents after his wrong-doing (smAh) [which means here
conteittually the act of stealing], and makes amends, verily, God
will turn towards him [i.e, forgive his sin], Lo, God is forgiving,
merciful.

166

The Semantic Field of Kufr

In the Qur'an, the rules of human conduct in society as established
by God and imposed upon men, arc called 'the bounds of God*
kvsud Allah, He who remains all his life within the God-made
bounds will be allowed to enter, on the Day of Judgment, Gardens
beneath which rivers flow, while he who transgresses His bounds
{yattC&dd& htidudahu) will he thrown into the Fire, to dwell therein
forever. {IV, 17/13)

These [i.e. all the minute rules regulating divorce] are the bounds of
God. Transgress them not. All those who transgress the bounds
of God — they arc the xdUmmt. {it, Z29)

The same thing may also be expressed in terms of zsrfm at-itafs to
which reference has been made.

These are the bounds of God, and whoso transgresses the bounds of
God has wronged himself. {LXV, 1)

God's Will is unfathomably deep, and it is not for the human
mind to probe it to its depths and to understand how and why it
works as it does. So it comes about very frequently that the reason
for a particular 'bound* remains an unsolvable mystery to men.- A
'bound' is there simply because God has so decreed. Such is, for
instance, the case with the Biblical image of the Tree in the Garden:
We said, ' O Adam, dwell thou, and thy "wife, in the Garden, and eat
freely thereof wherever you like. But draw not nigh this Tree ; if
you do, you wiU be of the salim.' (II, 33/35)

There are, however, many cases in which the setting of a. 'bound*
is understandable in terms of the social welfare; this occurs when the
particular 'bound* is clearly calculated to produce some direct
benefit to the life of people in a community. Thus God decrees in
the Qur'in that there should be no usury, and He designates usury
by the name of salmi 'without wronging {la tasMm&na), and without
being wronged (la tusIamHtta}', (II, 279}. In Riirah IV, after a des-
cription in full detail of the rules concerning inheritance (w. 12-16}
11— is), it is declared; ''These are the bounds of God, Whoso obeys
God and His Apostle, He will admit hitn into gardens beneath which
rivers flow . , , but whoso disobeys God aod His Apostle and
transgresses His bounds. He will admit Jain into a Fire, to dwell
therein forever.' (w. 1 7- 1 8/ 1 3- 1 4) The rules concerning divorce,
which I have just referred to, may be taken as another example,

O Prophet, when you divorce women, divorce them after they
have reached the determined term. Calculate the term, and fear
God your Lord. Do not drive them out of their houses, nor let
them go unless they commit a manifest indecency. These are the

167

The Analysis of Major Concepts

bounds of God, and whoso transgresses the hounds of God has
wronged himself, (LXV, i)

It will be easy to sec that the ' bounds ' of this kind are destined to

develop later into the Law of Islam,

But ' bound? 1 may be understood in a much wider sense. Then the
word xtthn, as ' transgression of a bound ', won id denote, as suggested
at the outset, any kind of human act that goes beyond the proper
limit and encroaches on the right of others. It is extremely interesting
to remark here that ztibrt in this sense may very well represent the:
point of view of the idolaters; in one passage, namely, the violence
done by the believers to idols is described, from the standpoint of
idol-worshippers, as a flagrant case of %ttlm.

Then he [Abraham] broke them [the idols] into pieces. . . . They
said, 'Who dared to do this with our gods? Surely he is a aaUm.'
{XXI, 50^0/58-59)

Thus to practice an act of $ulm is to hurt someone seriously

without any conceivable reason. So in the last analysis sulm is es-
sentially relative to the standpoint one takes from which to look at the
matter. In the passage just quoted the destruction of the idols con-
stitutes a piece of xttlm because, viewed from the angle of the
polytheists, there is no reason at all why this should be done, while
from that of the believers the same act would be amply justifiable.
In similar fashion, the expulsion of Muslims from their homes by
the KMrs only because they, i.e, the Muslims, say, * Our Lord is
God\ is, for them, an undeniable act of yubn, being justified by no
conceivable reason. From the standpoint of the Kafirs, however,
the Islamic belief in One Qcid providus abundant Ttawn for their
behaving towards the believers in that way.

Sanction is given to those who take up arms because they have been
wronged (zvtimu) , , . who have been expelled from their homes
without any legitimate reason {bi-ghuyr ftaqq) only because they

say, 'Our Lord is God.' (XX n, 40-41/30,-40)

In the same way, Muslims would be wrong-doers (jzaJnn) if they
should repulse the poor brethren for the sole reason that they are
poor, because that does not in any way Constitute a reason.

Drive not away those [poor believers] who call upon their Lord
at morn and evening, desiring: 1 lis countenance. No responsibility
for them is upon thee, and no responsibility for thee is upon them,
that thou sliuuldst drive them away and become one of the zdtim.

(vi, S i)

16*

The Semantic Field of Kufr

In another passage, the Muslims are admonished against doing
wrong (sw/m) by ' devouring' without a justifiable reason the property
of orphans entrusted to their care.

Verily, those who devour the property of orphans wrongfully
(sulnuin), they do but devour fire in their bellies; they shall be
exposed to burning flames. (IV, 11/10)

Chiefly, however, the word is employed in the Qur'In from the
standpoint of the Muslims, and naturally, it has most to do there with
the characteristic conduct of the Kafirs towards God and the
believers.

Let us begin with the case in which zulm is used almost synony-
mously with kufr, We may point out in passing that al-BaydlwT,
commenting on the word ?dKm that occurs in Surah Yl t 136/135
in the place of fcfftr, remarks that the former is 'more general and
more comprehensive in meaning 1 than the latter.

How shall God guide a people who disbelieved (kafarii) after
having once believed and testified to the truth of the Apostle, to
whom clear signs came: God guides not sahm people. (Ill, So/86)

We often find some of the most characteristic traits of kufr classified
in the category of zulm. Thus, he who only listens to Revelation
mockingly and calls the Apostle a magician or poet is sometimes
labeled zalim instead of kdfir.

There never comes unto thetn a new reminder [i.e. Revelation]
from their Lord but they listen to it while playing, with their
hearts distracted. They confer secretly, those wrong-doers

(ulludhimt galamu), saying, c Is [not] this aught but a mortal like
yourselves? What, will you go to magic when you can seer' . . .

They say, ' A jumble of nightmares ! Nay, he has forged it. Nay,
he is a poet.' (XXI, 1-3, 5)

Who is more sSlitn than he who, being reminded of the signs of
his Lord, turns away therefrom and forgets what his own hands
have sent forward [to the Day of Judgment] r (XVI II, 55/57)

Takdhib, or 'crying lies to God's signs ', which wc discussed above
as one of the most characteristic aspects of kufr, belongs naturally
to the sphere of sulm. One example may suffice,

Evil is the likeness of the people who have cried lies to the signs of
God, for God guides not the xalim people, (LX1I, 5)

The same is true also of the vice of iftira' 'forging a lie (against God) T
which has already been discussed in detail. Takdhlb is to call the

109

The Analysis ttf Major Concepts

Tttttb brought by somebody else a lie, while ifiira' is to invent a lie.
In some Cases, the two appear Side by si Jc in one dud the same verse

and are labeled altogether as $ulm.

Who is more zalim than he who forges a lie against God or cries
lies tP Hie signs? Verily, the zalim shall not prosper. (VI, at)

Who is more zalim than he who forges 3 lie against God add cries
lie* to the Tiuth, when it reaches him? (XXXI X, 33 /3a)

The following quotation furnishes an ideal example describing
with a touch of realism the characteristic conduct of such 'forgers'.

Who is more zalim than he who forges a lie against God, or says t
' T have received a divine revelation ', when naught has been re-
vealed to him, and he who says, *I will reveal the like of that which
God has revealed?' If only thou couldst sec when these x&Umfin
(pi.) are in the throes of death. (VI, 03)

Zalim also are those who 'plunge deeply into God's signs', a
cliche for religious scepticism which brings into the domain of pure
faith vain arguing or wrangling about God and His Revelation.
That this type -of scepticism, is usually called ktifr I have already
explained in detail.* In the following passage those people are called
fSMm,

When thou [Muhammad] seest those who plunge into [cavilling

at} Our signs, turn away from them until they begin to plunge
bit* some other subject. Or if Satan, should mate thee forget, sit
not, after thou hast remembered, with the sUlim people, (VI,
67/68)

Similarly, 'he whose heart is hardened' is, we have seen h a standing
phrase for a Kafir, In SO rah XXII 52/53, such men, too, are called
zalim.

We know also that the malignant policy of obstructing the path of
God is highly characteristic of the Kafirs. All acts of intriguing against
the Prophet and his followers belong in the category of $ulm as. it
does in the category of htfr.

Who is more zalim than he who obstructs the places of worship of
God, that His name be not mentioned therein, and endeavors to
destroy them? (II, 108/114)

Sometimes wc find the two concepts occurring side by side in one
and the same passage:
* Sr* Above, Chapter VII, 'Contenttousnes*', pp, !$+- J 55,

170

The Semantic Field of Kufr

The curse of God is surely ort the faliiiirn who debar [men] from
the way of God and desire to make it crooked, while in the Here-
after they do disbelieve {kajwiiri). (XI, n-22/18-Tn; see also VII,

+3-43/44-45)

Verily, those who disbelieve (kafarv) and obstruct the way of
God; they have strayed far astray. Verily, those who disbelieve
and do wrong {zalamS}, God will riot forgive them. (IV, 165—166/
167-168)

Concerning the Golden Calf of Moses' people, to which reference
has been made more than once, it is written :

'Moses came unto you [children of Israel] with manifest signs,
but you worshipped the Calf in his absence, and you were xalim*
. . . They were made to drink deep the [spirit of the] Calf into their
hearts because of their htfr. (II, 86-87/0,2-0,3)

It is not only those who are Kafirs themselves that are accused of
svtm, but even those who take Kafirs for friends^-and that even if
they be their own fathers or brothers — are denounced as zalim.
Note that this attitude implies the most radical break with the social
pattern of Jahiliyah baeed on the natural bond of kinship by blood.

O believers, take not your fathers nor your brothers for friends if
they prefer disbelief {kufr) to belief (im&t). Whoso of you take
such ones for friends, those are the salimun (pi,), (IX, 23)

If, as we have just seen, kufr in all its aspects may be classified under
stuhn, it is quite natural that we find shirk ' polytheism' Ln the QurTin
often mentioned as a case of xulm. Thus in one passage, Loqman the
Wise says to his son, admonishing him:

' O my son, associate none with God. Verily, association {shirk) is a
great sulm.' (XXXI, 12/13)

Here we find sruAn directly predicated of idolatry. The next example
is semantically no less important in that it brings out the triple
relationship between kufr, shirk, and zulm.

They surely are Kafirs who say, ' God is the Messiah, son of Mary,'
For the Messiah [hin^seif] said, 'O children of Israel, worship
God [alone], my Lord and your Lord,' Verily, whoso ascribes
unto God associates, God has surely forbidden Paradise unto him,
and his final abode shall be the Fire. For the gaiinon there shall
be no helpers, (V, 76/72)

Of men there are such as take unto themselves rivals to God, and
love them with a love [which is suitable only for God. . . . Ah if

171

The Analysts of Major Concepts

only those who do wrong {zaiam€) saw, in the face of the chastise-
ment, that the supreme power belongs entirely to God. (11, [60/

We have seen above that the folk of Moses who made out of their
ornaments the Golden Calf as an object of worship — -which is
nothing but shirk — are accused of having committed, a zultrt.

They took it [i.e. the Calf] and they became zalim. (VII, 147/148)

Similarly, fisq, which constituted the topic of the first section of the
present chapter, appears in a parallel expression to that of $tlim.
Mention is made of Moses' folk who dared to distort a revealed say-
ing in order to ridicule it and changed it into something which,
though similar in outward form, is essentially different from the
original. Those who did this are said to have yti$lvn5rt ' done wrong'
(VII, 162), In the next verse people who broke the Sabbath are
labeled ftsq -doers (VII, 163).

MuHadi

Mu'tadi is a participial form, of the verb iHadd which means approxi-
mately 'to pass beyond one's proper limit', and thence 'to act
aggressively and unjustly against someone,' It will be easy to see
that this word and the preceding one, zulm, have large common areas
of meaning. Indeed, in many important cases, the word tmftadi
behaves as a perfect synonym of za&m. Take, for instance, the follow-
ing verse:

Fight in the way of God with those who fight with you, but
transgress {ttftadu t from Ftadd) not. Verily, God loves not the
transgressors (mu'tadttt, pi.). (II, 186/190)

The words 'transgress not ', put in a more concrete way, would mean,
'Do not challenge your enemy to a fight from your side,' Substantially
the same thought might very well have been expressed in terms, of
2ulm(as in Surah XXII, 40/30,-40, cited above).

This close semantic relationship between sufm and ftadd is more
directly brought to light hy another example. Tn the formula of
testimony which we find given in Surah V, 106/1157, to be used by
those who attend in the capacity of legal witnesses to the bequeathing
of property, it is stated most clearly that one's being a zalim is an
immediate result of one's having 'transgressed'. The passage runs as
follows;

Let them swear by God, "Our testimony is more reliable than their
testimony. We never transgress (ftadttyita)., for then we should
surely be of the xalim. i

172

The Semantic FitM of Kufr

It may profitably he recalled here that an important aspect of ifuli*t
consists in transgressing l the bounds of God*. The word i'tudti,
too, is used in this sense in exactly similar situations. The following
are some of the examples.

You know of those among you who transgressed {Ftodvw) the
Sabbath so that We said unto them ' Be ye apes, driven away !'
(II. 61/65)

Commenting on a similar phrase — 'they transgress, or break,
(yddihta) the Sabbath* — that occurs in Surah VII, t6j al-Baydawi
remarks that it means; they go beyond the bounds of God by catching
fish on the day of Sabbath Of the same kind are the following two

instances,

Cod has forgiven what is past [i.e. what was done in the pre-
Islamic days when God's ' bounds' were not known yet], but whoso
transgresses {i'tadd) after this [Le, after the promulgation of God's
'bounds' regulating the minute details of right conduct during
the period of pilgrimage], for him there shall be a painful chastise-
ment, (V, 96/95)

believers, do not m;;kc unlawful the goo;.) things which God hjss
made lawful for you; transgress (ttrtada) not; verily God loves

not the transgressors (mu'taditi, pi.). (V, 0*9/37)

'Lawful' (ftalal) and 'unlawful* (bartim) ate two important terms,
belonging to the older layer of taboo-language, that play an important
part in the Quran as semi-legat terms and are Later integrated into
the system of Islamic jurisprudence. But with these two we shall
have to deal at length in Chapter XI, Suffice it to note for the
moment that, at the Quranic stage, they represent part of the
'bounds 1 of God, and that any attempt at introducing a change into
the revealed system of htilal -karam is regarded as a genuine case
of ' transgression '.

It may be noted in this connection that the practice of sodomy is
Sometimes regarded as an act of 'transgression'. In such a case, the
notion of the 'transgression of the bounds of God' approaches re-
markably close to that of an ' abomination *, that is, more concretely,
any object to which God's abhorrence is directed. This view is
confirmed by the fact that sodomy is most usually described as
fdhishak which is the very wunl for an ' abominable thing'. 7

What, do you approach the males out of all beings, and leave your
wives that your T»rd bas created for you? Nay, but you are people
who transgress l^aduna from the same rwrt as Ftadd), (XXVI,
165-166)
' For thia word nee helnw Chapter XI, pp. *J3-*34-

] 73

Jjfef Analysis of Major Concepts

It wiU be dear from what precedes, that the meaning of i'tndA
C0IDC3 very near that of ^asd 'to be rebellious) ', 'to disobey (the com-
mands of) someone'. In fact, these two verbs often appear aide by
side in the Qur'an, 1 give here an example that is acmantically of
particular interest. The passage concerns the ' children of Israel ' who
followed Moses out of Egypt and indulged in all sorts of ungodliness.
It will be noticed that 'rebellion' and 'transgression* are interpreted
in terras of fcujV H

So there befell them humiliation and poverty, and they drew upon
themselves wrath from God. All this was because they used to
act in a characteristically kafif way {yakfuriina) towards the signs
of God and stew the Prophets without right; all this was because

they disobeyed ("tfjaw, from ' 'aid) and always transgressed
iyrftadOna). (II, 38/61)

In the following passage, the takdkih t which I have repeatedly
referred to as one of the most characteristic features of kufr, is put
in a close semantic relation with the act of transgression:

Woe that day [i.e. the Day of Judgment] unto those who always

cry lies (mukadhdkibiTt, pi. of ntaksd}\dkib\ those who cry lies to
the l)ay of Judgment £ None cries it lies save every sinful (athim)
transgressor (mu'tadi). (LXXXIII, 10-12)

Mumf

We have seen above that both zatim and mu'tadi contain the notion of
'transgressing the bound' as the core of their meaning structure. In
muifif we have another word with a very similar semantic constitu-
tion. It comes from the verb asrafa (isrdf), the so-called 'fourth'
derivative verbal form of SRF,. and means basically 'to exceed, or,
transgress the right measure \ But, unlike sufm and i c tida y — and this
is particularly obvious in the former — which carry an unmistakable
implication of enmity, aggressiveness, or encroachment upon another's
rights, isrdf seems to mean primarily "to go beyond the due limits'
without any such implication; 'to behave too extravagantly* and
thence, l to be immoderate', "to Commit excesses'. Thus in the
following two examples, the quality of in of is attributed to the act
of eating and drinking immoderately : the act in itself is bv no means
wrong, but it becomes morally wrong when it is carried to an
absurd extreme. This it is that is called isrdf and is declared to
be the object of God's hatred :

O children of Adam, take your adornment at every mosque, and
eat and drink, but do not commit isrdf {tusrifu), for He [I.e. God]
loves not the warn/. {VII, 29/31)

174

The Semantic Field of Kufr

He it ts Win) produces gardens tnellised as well as untrellised, the
date-palm, and crops of various taste, and olives and pome-
granates, alike and unlike. Eat you of the fruit thereof when they
fructify, and bring the due thereof upon the harvest day, but
commit not isrdf. Verily He loves not the tmtsrif. (VI, 142/1+1)

In the next passage the word is applied to the custom of sodomy
among 'the people of Lot'.

And Lot when he said to his people, 'What, do you commit such
an abominable act as no one in all the world has ever Committed
before you? I,o, you approach men with lust instead of women.
Indeed, you are a mutrif people.' (VII, 78-79/80— Ri)

The following is a passage from the speech of the Prophet Salih,
which he addresses to his people in order to admonish them for their
godless way of life. Here the must if is one who spreads nothing but
corruption in the land and never docs right.

So fear God and obey me, and obey not the command of the
tnustif who do cotruption( yufsidma) in the earth and never do
right {yvftihma). (XXVI, 150-152)

As regards the meaning of 'do corruption* and 'do right', which
determine the inner structure of the Concept of muHrt/in this passage,
much will be said when wc come to discuss the problem of 'good'
and 'bad' in the Qur'an.

Probably — though there is room for a litde uncertainty about this
point — tJie word tattsrif which occurs in the next passage-, must be
understood in a similar way, TTit contextual situation is> as follows.
When Pharaoh was about to kill Moses on the pretext that Moses,
if left free and alive, 'would surely spread corruption {fasad, from
the same root as yufsid&tw which we nave just encountered) until in
the end he would corrupt even the traditional religion of the people',
a beliuving man of Pharaoh's people who kept concealed his faith,
tried to admonish him against taking a rash step. He said:

"What, will you kill a man only because he says, "My Ixird is
Cjod"j when he has brought you the manifest signs from your

T^ird: If he be a liar, his lying will be against himself, but if what
he says be true, there will smite you sume of that which he promises
you. Verily, God guides not him who is musrif, kadhdhab,' (XL,

30/38)

The word Madhdhdb, as we saw earlier, is the emphatic form of
hddkib, meaning something like 'a big — or habitual — liar'. The
msittif refers most probably to the point made by Pharaoh that Moses

The Analysis of Major Concepts

will surely go on spreading corruption in the land. If this interpreta-
tion be right, what this 1 bebeviilg mail 1 means by these words would
amount to this: If, as Pharaoh asserts, Moses is really a great liar
[kadhdhab) and if be docs nothing but spread corruption in the
land (warn/), he will go to perdition of his own accord, for God will
never guide a man qualified by such abominable properties.

It will be easy to see that the meaning of musrif in contexts of this
kind comes remarkably near that of kdfir or ^aiftw. In effect, a few
vecses down in the same passage we find the same word mafrif
employed in reference to those who entertain grave doubts as to the
sincerity of the Apostle and indulge in, vain disputes concerning the
signs of God.

Joseph brought you before the manifest signs, yet you never
ceased being in doubt {sbakk) concerning what be brought you . . -
thus does God lead astray him who b ntuafif murtab {* doubter 3 ),
[This refers to] those who like to wrangle about God's signs with-
out any authority given them, This is extremely hateful in the
sight of God and in the sight of those who believe. Thus does.
God put a seal on every proud [mutakabhir) and insolent [jabbSr)
heart. (XL, 3H7/3<r"l35)

Nothing will show more clearly that isrdf in certain contexts
behaves almost synonymously with hufr. Grave doubts concerning
God's revelations, vain disputes about God, hearts too proud and
insolent to believe in Him, these are all well-known marks of the
Kafirs. This impression is Confirmed further when we see the term
musrif applied to 'those who ascribe partners' to God, that is, those
who indulge in idolatry.

You urge me to disbelieve (aftfura) in God, and to associate
(ttihttfta) with Him I know not what [i.e. idols of suspicious origin],
while I urge you to come unto the Mighty Forgivcr. There can be
no doubt but that [the idols] unto which you call me have no
claim in this world or in the world to come, that our [final] return
will be unto God and that the nuxsr^will be the inhabitants of the
Fire, {XU 4S-^ 6 /43-43)

In the following verse, the word appears in a verbal form: asrafa
lit, 'he transgressed the due bound 1 . It is contextually plain that the
reference here is to a man who passed all his life in follies and merry-
making, utterly heedless of the signs of God that He sent down —
*Our signs came unto thee, but thou wert heedless of them.* This, of
course, is neither more nor less than genuine kttfr as I have explained
above in detail.

176

The Semantic Field of Kufr

Thus We recompense him vho asrafa in the world and believed
not in the signs of bis Lord. (XX, 127)

I shall bring this section to a close by quoting a passage, in which
the word musrif implies most clearly the act of committing excesses
in revolt against an explicit prohibition of God,

Therefore we prescribed for the children of Israel that whoso tills
a human being unless it be in retaliation for a man killed or some
corruption done in the land, it shall be as if he had killed mankind
altogether. . . . Already Our Apostles have come unto them with
signs manifest, hut many of them even thereafter continue to-
commit isriif {mtsrifiin). (V, 35-30/32)

177

IX* Religious
Hypocrisy

This short chapter will be ooncernfjj with the sfm antic AJ.
analysis of the concept of nifSq, The word is customarily translated
'hypocrisy' in English, "We shall use this English word for the con-
venience of exposition, keeping in mind that what is most important
is not the problem of semantic equivalence between the English
'hypocrisy' and the Arabic tiifSq, but the structure of the latter itself.
Roughly speaking, tti/Sq consists in professing faith with the tongue
while secretly disbelieving in the heart. Thus it is obvious that the
discordance between, words and deeds in matters that concern
religious faith, which is one of the characteristic features of fisq}
is the most basic element in the meaning of nifaq, I have cited an
important verse in which it is even openly declared that ' the hypo-
crites art fasiq people'. (Surah IX, 68/67) I" similar fashion, we find
in Surah LXIII, 6 the following remarkable words concerning those
who show hypocrisy in religious matters : * It will be all the same to
them whether thou [Muhammad] askest forgiveness for them or
thou dost not ask forgiveness for them, for God will not forgive them
in any case. God guides not a.fasiq people* This, however, does not
exhaust the whole story of this kind of religious hypocrisy. Far

1 Sec wtwv* ( Chapter VIII, p. 1 58,
I 7 8

Religious Hypocrisy

from coinciding completely with fitq, the word nifaq has a very
peculiar sort of semantic structure; indeed, so peculiar that some
people have thought it necessary to treat nifaq as a distinct basic
category which takes rank with kufr and Imdn in dividing the entire
domain of Islamic morals into three main regions.

According to this view, men are to be classified into three main
categories: (r) mii'min 'believer', (2) Mfir 'disbeliever 1 , and (3)
mwiafiq 'hypocrite*. The moat remarkable representative of this
view in early Islam is liasan al-Basrt. 2 Much later, Fakhr al-Din
al-RazI writes in his 'Great Commentary' that the mu'nun, one who
is qualified by iman, is he whose heart and conscience are religiously
clear and good ; the kafir is he whose distinguishing mark is stubborn
perseverance in refusal to believe; while the muuajiq (grammatically,
a participial form corresponding to nifaq) is he who pretends to
believe but whose conscience is against it, J

There is no denying that nifaq has much in common with kufr,
for, in the last resort, it is nothing but 2 particular type of disbelief.
So it is hardly surprising that the Qur^n itself should appear to make
no essential distinction between the two. Thus in the first of the
following examples, we ace 'disbelievers' and 'hypocrites* lumped
together as enemies of God:

O Prophet I Strive against the hvff&r (pi. of kafir) and the muaafiqiti
(pL), and be harsh with them, Gehenna shall be their final abode,
an evil journey's end. (LXVI, 9)

This last point, that is, the decree of God that the final abode of the
manafiq should be the Hell Fire, i3 very significant in that it discloses
the essential connection of nifaq with kufr, for the common punish-
ment suggests that the two arc equal in the degree and nature of

sinfulness. In Surah IV T 144/145, we read: 'Verily, the mundfiqbt
shall be in the very depths of the Fire, and thou shalt not find any
helper for them,'

In the next quotation, which — although the word tmtndftq is not
actually mentioned — clearly refers to the 'hypocrites', ttifHq happens
to be more directly identified with kufr.

O Apostle, let them not grieve thee who vie one with another in
the kufr, those who pretend with their mouths, 'We believe*,
while their hearts believe not. (V, 45/41)

This being the case, it is most natural that some of the Arab
philologists have come to count nifaq as one of the varieties of kufr.

! hitter, op. tit.

' Fakhr Hi-Din hI-DJzi, Tafifr al^Kjsbir, temm, on Surah II, 7/8.

179

The Analyst* of Major Concept*

and called it kufr al-mjaq, that is, literally 'the rufaq kind of kufr*.
And yet, in spite of this, there is a certain respect in which nifoq
would appear to be more aptly treated as an independent semantic
category standing between ■belief and 'disbelief.

Let me, first, give an example showing clearly this mid-way
nature of nifdq wavering between the two extreme poles.

The mumfxq seek to deceive God, when in fact it is God who
deceives them. When they stand up to pray, they stand up
languidly to be seen of men, and do not remember God save a
little, wavering betwwn this [and that], neither to these nor to

those, (IV, 141-143/143-743)

The same is true of the example that follows. The passage refers
to the famous battle of UJtiud in which things turned unfavorably for
Muhammad and his followers* a golden opportunity to distinguish
true believers from those who had only paid lip service to the new

religion.

What befell you the day the two hosts met, it occurred by God's
leave, that He might distinguish between those who [truly]
believed and those who only pretended to be [believers] hypo-
critically [mfaqu, a verbal form), When it was said to these latter,
'Come now, fight in God's way', or L repel [the disbeliever*] 1 ,
they said, 'if we knew how to fight we would surely follow you.'
They were that day nearer to kufr than to ittton, saying as they did
with their mouths that which was not in their hearts. But God
knows best what they hide. (Ill, 160--1 6 1/166-167)

This passage seems to show plainly that the semantic category of
Mt/Jj is in no way a water-tight compartment situated between kufr
and imdn, but rather an extensive ran^e of meaning with uncertain
boundaries. Tt is, SO to Speak, a category of a conspicuously dynamic
nature, that may extend with elasticity towards either direction to
shade off almost imperceptibly into kufr or imdti.

In some gases, trifdq conveys the impression that it is bom in the
very midst of belief. When a believer does not act in accordance with
hi» belief, a first step lias already been taken towards tiifdqi, he is still
a believer but his conduce is most hateful in the sight of God. This
point is brought out by the following example.

O you who believe, why say you that which you do not? Most
hateful it is in the sight of God that you say that which you do not.
(LXI, 2-3)

Note here the expression 'you who believe'; it shows clearly that
God regards these people and addresses them as ' believers '. Such

180

Religious Hypocrisy

an attitude originates, according to the Our 'an, in 'doubt 1 , that
presumptuous doubt as to the truth of God's Revelation, which
gnaws at one's heart, even, after one has accepted the faith of
Islam.

On the Day of Judgment, we ate told, all hypocrites, men as well
as women {muttdfiqutt and mundfiqtit) standing on the brink of the
.Fire, will cry out to the believers going to Paradise, 'Wait! Wait
for us. Were we not with you in the earthly world? 1 To this the
believers will reply; 'Yea indeed, but you fell into temptation; you
hesitated and entertained doubts {irtabtvm)\ vain hopes deluded you,
until at last there camt the final judgment of God. The Deceiver
[i,e. Satan] deceived you concerning God. ! (LVTI, 13-14)

A step further towards kufr, and he who 'says what he does not'
becomes a genuine mumjiq. The type just described was one who
began to entertain doubts about God in the midst of Islam. The
type which T am about to describe is represented by those who
remain front beginning to end outside the faith of Islam, but, instead
of declaring outright that they arc disbelievers, accept Islam out-
wardly and use the faith as a cloak under which they work all sorts
of evil. We find in the Quran a number of very interesting descrip-
tions of such typical 'hypocrites'. Here I give two of the instances
that are particularly well-suited for elucidating the real nature of
nifaq,

When the hypocrites {munSfiqim) come to thee [Muhammad]
they say, 'We bear witness that thou art surely the Apostle of
God.' But God knows that thou art His Apostle, and God bears
witness that the hypocrites are all liars (kadhibiirt). Having made the
faith (inuirt) a covering, they try to bat from the way of God, Verily,
evil is that which they have been doing. All this is because they
accepted belief and then disbelieved (hafaru), wherefore their
hearts are sealed so that they understand naught. When thou
seest them, their bodily appearance may very well please thee, and
when they speak thou listenest to what they say. But fin reality]
they are like timbers propped up. They think every noise is
directed against them. They are the [real] enemy, so beware of
them, May God annihilate them. How perverted they are! And
when it is said unto them, ''Come now, the Apostle of God will
ask forgiveness for youi' they avert their heads, and thou seest
them turning awav, being too big with pride {mustakbiriirt).
(LXIII, 1-5)

The following passage contains no explicit mention of the word
nifaq itself, but no one denies that it describes in concrete terms the
most characteristic marks of the 'hypocrites',

i3i

The Analysis of Major Cmeeptt

They say, 'We believe in God and the Last Day', but in reality
they are not believers (mtt'mintn). They only try to deceive God.

(II, HJ/H?)

When they meet the believers, they say, 'We believe 1 , but when

they arc alone with their Satans [i,e h their leaders], they aay 'We
are with you. We are only mocking then].' (v. 13/14)

When it is said to them, 'Believe as other people do', they reply,
' Shall we believe as fools believe?' The truth is that they arc the
fools, but they do not know. (v. 12/13)

They are the workers of corruption (mufsid), but they arc not
aware of it. When it is said to them, ' Do not work corruption
in the land*, they say, 'We are doing nothing but good.' (w. 10-11/
11-12)

They are born with an incurable sickness in their hearts, which
God has increased because of their bad conduct (v, 9/10)

This metaphor of 'sickness' or 'disease' {marog) in the heart is one
of the most important elements in the semantic constitution of mfaq.
In fact, we see the peculiar expression, 'those in whose hearts is a
sickness' recurring incessantly in the Qur'an to denote the 'hypo-
crites 1 .

They are like a man who kindles a fire, and when it lights up
around him God snatches it away to leave him in darkness. Deaf,
dumb, and blind, he cannot return, (v. 16/17)
God mocks them and leaves them to wander blindly in their
insolence (tughyany They have bought error (dalalah) at the price
of divine guidance,* (w, 14-15/15-16)

This passage, 1 believe, discloses better than any lengthy discussion
both those features which mfaq shares in common with kttfr and those
that are quite peculiar to mfaq.

Originally the word nifaq {or muadfiq) seems to have been used to
refer to some of the citizens of Medina, who joined the Prophet's
camp after he migrated from Mecca to their city. Standing in sharp
contrast to those Meocan believers who followed him with an un-
shakably firm faith in God and His Apostle, many of the Medinese
believers were conspicuously lukewarm in belief and always ' waver-
ing between this side and that''. Having accepted Islam without any
deep-rooted belief in God, some of them remained opportunists.
The slightest misfortune thai happened to Muhammad was. enough

4 We jnust recall that both pighydu and dalalatt have been analyzed, above in
Chapter V FI is th»r*«ttistie f«Kar*4 of. *mj?,

182

Religioui Hypocrity-

to raise doubts in their minds and to sway their belief in God, It
was, it appears, to the Medinese of this type that the word munafiq
was applied at first. In the nature of the case, however, hjJEj could
not be restricted to these wavering Muslims of Medina, And io fact,
in Surah IX, we find the conduct of some Bedouin described as
being of a nifaq nature. It is declared there : ' The Bedouin are gener-
ally more stubborn in kttfr and ttifaq and less, inclined towards ac-
cepting the bounds of God,' {v. <)8/^y). And again: 'Some of the
Bedouin around you are mun&fiqBn' (v. 1 02/101), All those, in a word,
who harbor a gloomy doubt — 'sickness* — in their hearts, and yet
pretend to be faithful believers, fully deserved the name of mwidfiq.

1*3

X* The Believer

Just as kufr constitutes, as we have sees, the pivotal point
round which turn all the qualities belonging to the sphere of repre-
hensible properties, SO itttdn 'belief or 'faith ', is the very center of
the sphere of positive moral properties. 'Belief is the real fountain-
head of all Islamic virtues; it creates them all, and no virtue is
thinkable in Islam, which is rot based on the sincere faith in God
and His revelations.

As for the semantic structure of 'belief itself, it may be admitted
that we know already all the essential points, for, by trying to analyse
semantically the principal terms of negative valuation, we have also
been describing the characteristic features of the true 'believer' in
the Islamic sense from the reverse side, as it were. So our main task
in this chapter will Consist simply in re-examining briefly all that has
been said about kufr and its various aspects from the opposite angle.

The Ideal Believer

What sort of a man, in the Qur'anic view, is 'one who believes*?
What are — or, should be — the characteristic features of 'belief?
How, in a word, is an ideal believer expected to behave socially as

i«4

The Believer

well as religiously? These are most important questions we must asfc
about iman, and that not only generally but also from our specific
point of view, for the answers to them will at once determine the
semantic contents of the words meaning 'belief and 'believer* in
the Quranic contest. Let v& begin by taking up a passage in which
'belief is considered exclusively in its religious aspects. This passage
is of particular relevance to our research in that it furnishes an almost
perfect verbal definition of the 'true believer'.

Only those are [true] believers who, whenever God is mentioned,
their hearts quiver, and when His signs are recited to them, they
[i.e. the signs] increase them in belief, and upon their Lord they
place reliance, those who attend divine service steadfastly, and
expend [in alms] of what We have bestowed upon them. These
are the believers in the true sense [haqqan]* (VI 11, 2-4}

This verbal definition pictures 'the believer in the true sense of the
word ' as a genuinely pious man, in whose heart the very mention of
God's name is enough to arouse an intense sense of awe, and whose,
whole life is determined by the basic mood of deep earnestness.
The next quotation is more concerned with the outward manifesta-
tions of piety :

[True believers are] those who go back repentant [to God], those
who worship [Him], those who praise [Him], those who fast,

those who how down, those who fall prostrate [before Him],
those who enjoin the good and forbid the evil, those who keep
within God's bounds. Give thou good tidings to the believers
(ffiu'mtnlhj pi.). (IX, ir3/n2)

The genuine faith must work as the most powerful motive that
actuates men to good works; if not, the faith is not genuine. The
fundamental attitude of contrition and awe before God, the unques-
tioning obedience to God's will, the heartfelt gratitude for divine
benefits — all these elements that go to characterise the Islamic faith
at its nighest, must of necessity materialise in the officially re-
cognized ' good works 1 (fiiiitidt) which we shall examine in the follow-
ing chapter; they must, further, find expression almost in every action
in the ordinary man-to-man relations of life. This basic connection
of faith with good works assumes later in theology a remarkable
importance when the Murji'ah raise the question in a more acute
form by asserting that 'faith' is quite independent of deeds ; whatever
sins one commits do not affect in any way one's being a true ' believer '
if only faith is present. We shall come back to this problem in the
following chapter in which we shall deal with the concept of $alihtih
'good work* together with other related concepts.

1 85

The Analysis of Major Concepts

Here I give two quotations from the Qur'Sn, which will shod light
on this phase of the phenomenon afiman. They enumerate those acts
that are deemed particularly fitting to the true * believers'.

The servants of the Merciful [i.e. the true believers] are those who
walk upon the earth with modesty and, when the jahit address
them, answer, 'Peace [be upon you]! 1

These who pass the night before their Lord, prostrate and stand-
ing ;

Those who Bay, 'Our Lord, turn away from us the torment of
Gehenna. Verily, the torment thereof is atrocious torture; how
evil it is as an. abode and a dwelling 1' ;

Those who, when they expend, neither act immoderately [the vice
of israf as described above] nor yet grudge, hut [take] a proper
stand between the two [extremes] ;

Those who call not upon any other god with God, nor kill any
living being which God has forbidden save when it is justifiable,
nor commit fornication ;

And those who testify not falsely, and, when they pass by idle

talk, pass by honorably;

Those who,' whenever they are reminded of the signs of their Lord,

fall not thereat deaf and blind ;

Those who say, 'Our Lord, give us enjoyment of our wives and

offspring, and make us a model to all those who fear [God],'

(XXV, 64-6B163-6S ; 72 74)

In summary we would say that, according to this passage t the
characteristics that may reasonably be expected to be in an ideal
believer are as follows: the hasic attitude of hilm ; constant devotional
exercises; the fear of the Last Judgment; almsgiving as the most
important of the works of genuine piety, without going, however, to
the extreme of the impulsive and boastful generosity of Jahillyah;
keeping away from the Jahili acts which God has sternly forbidden,
such as polytheism, the slaying of a living being without right,
fornication; avoidance of perjury and idle talk; a delicate sensitive-
ness to the deep import of the revealed words ; and serene and restful
happiness in the life of this present world, based on the expectation
of the Hereafter.

The portrait which the next passage gives of the ideal believer is
essentially similar. It ruilS as follows I

Prosperous indeed will be the believers who arc humble in their
prayers, who turn away from idle talk, who are active in giving
alms, who hold back their genitals save from their own wives and

180

The BeHever

what their right hands possess [i.e. the slave-girls] t , , who keep
faithfully their trusts and their covenant, who are assiduous in
observing their prayers. These are the inheritors who will inherit
Paradise, to dwell therein forever. (XXIII, 1-6, 8-1 1)

To this portrait we might add one more touch to complete it. What
I have in mind here is a short passage in SQrah XXXIII, in which
absolute obedience to whatever God decrees is required of all be-
lievers as the sine qua nan of the really genuine faith-
It becomes not a believer, whether man or woman, when God and
His Apostle have decided any affair, to have his or lier own choice
in the affair. Whoso disobeys God and His Apostle, he has indeed
gone astray into error manifest. (XXXIII, 36)

Now that I have given a general picture of the ideal ' believer' in
the Qur'antc view, I shall proceed to a more detailed analysis of
sume of the personal properties on which the Qur J in places special
emphasis as being characteristic of the true believers.

Inula, Belief, as Opposed to Kufr

That kufr is the exact antithesis of 'belief is a point which requires
no laboring. I think I have made it sufficiently clear that it is this
basic antithesis between imdn and kufr that furnishes the ultimate
yardstick by which all human qualities are divided, in Islamic out-
look, into two radically opposed moral categories. This baste dicho-
tomy is the very keynote of the whole ethical system of Islam.
Everywhere in the Qur'an this fundamental opposition is perceptible.
1 shall give here a few of the most typical examples.

Verily, God will admit those who believe (dtnatm) and do good
works (fgtihat) into Gardens underneath which rivers now, while
Kafirs take their enjoyment in tlie present world, eating as the
cattle eat, but the Fire shall be their final dwelling-place, {XLVII,

13/12)

Here, it may be remarked, the radical contrast between mu'imn and
hafir is brought Out ill reference to two essential points: (1) what they
do in this world — the believer is only concerned to do pious works,
while the Kafir passes his days in the pursuit of worldly pleasures;
(i) what they obtain on the Day of Judgment — the believer will get
the reward of Paradise, while the Kafir goes to Hell. Substantially
the same is true of the following quotation.

As for those who believe and do good works, they shall rejoice in a
meadow green but as for those who disbelieve and cry lies to Our

187

The Analysis vf Major Concepts

signs and the meeting of the Hereafter, in the torment of Hell they
shall be placed, (XXX, 14-15/15-16}

In the example that follows, the same contrast is made to stand

on the difference in the Way in which one fights.

Those who believe {dmaa&) fight in the way of God, while those

who disbelieve (kafaru) fight in the way of the idols. (IV, 78/76)

The following; two examples describe kufr and mt&tt in terms of
temporal succession, or to be more concrete, they suggest that kufr
and ifmm are two contradictory personal properties which a man may
assume interchangeably, though in the nature of the case they cannot
possibly reside in one person both at the same time. There is, in
other words, constant danger of apostasy.

O you who believe (dmanu), if you obey a sect of those to whom has
been given the Scripture, they will turn you back, after you have
become believers (ptfda imanikvm lit, "after your belief), into
disbelievers {kafitina). How can you disbelieve (takfurwut) when
you hear the signs of God recited to you, and among you is His
Apostle? (Ill, 95-96/100-101)

Whoso disbelieves (kafaia) in God after he has become a believer —
save him who [does so] under compulsion and whose heart
remains unwavering in his belief (tmart) — but whoso finds satis-
faction in disbelief [kufr), upon them shall be wrath from God,
and theirs shall be a severe chastisement. (XVI, 108/106)

'To buy kufr at the price of fawn' is a very characteristic Qur'anie
phrase for apostatizing from Islam to idolatry.

Verily, those who purchase kufr at the price of imim, they do not
hurt God at all, and theirs shall be a painful chastisement. (Ill,
171M7)

If 'belief, in this way, is diametrically opposed to kufr, there is no
reason at all for surprise if we find it opposed to other cthico-
religious terms that are more or less synonymous with kufr.

Is he who is a believer (mit'titm) bke unto him who is -Afasiql They
cannot be equal. (XXXII, iS)

Hetcfasiq, which we considered in detail in Chapter IX, is made
the antithesis of ' one who believes ' in place of hfifir* Ln the next
example, three vices, kufr^ fttsQq, and ^isyan {'rebellion' or 'dis-
obedience*), are tied up all in a bundle and opposed to attan.

God has endeared tmdn and has beautified it in your hearts, and
He hag made hateful to you kufr and fusitq and Hsysn. (XLIX, 7)

The Believer

Islam and Muslim

As we saw in an earlier chapter, islam (from the verb aslama) means
literally 'submission' or the act of surrendering one's self entirely
to someone, else's will, and muslim, which is grammatically the
participial-adjectival form of aslama, is 4 one who has surrendered'. 1
The supreme importance of these terms in Islamic religion is shown
by the well-known fact that Islam is the very name of this religion,
while Muslim is a member of the religious community established by
Muhammad, the Prophet,

The origin of these peculiar appelations can be traced back to a
passage in the Qur'an itself. The passage is important also for our
specific purpose because its general context gives a very instructive
glimpse into the meaning of the word islam.

Say, 'We believe in God and that which has been sent down upon
us, and that which was sent down upon Abraham and Ishmael,
Tsaac and Jacob, and the Tribes, and that which was given unto
Moses, Jesus, and the Prophets from their Lord; we make no
distinction whatsoever between them, surrendering as we do unto
Him {luhu muslimany And whoso desires to have other than the
Surrender (islam) as religion, it will not be accepted of him, mid
he shall be among the losers in the Hereafter. (Ill, 78-79/84^85)

There is mentioned in the Qur r an a very peculiar ease in which,
in reference to the nature of the desert Arabs, the act of islam is
definitely distinguished from imHtt. Islam, we are told, is but the very
first step in the faith, a shallow belief which has not yet penetrated

deep into the heart, So alt 'believers' arc naturally ' muslims \ but
the reverse is not always true.

The Bedouin, say, 'We believe {dmantm}.' Say [Muhammad,]
unto them, 'You do not believe yet. Say rather, "We have sur-
rendered (aslanma) y \ for the belief (ittmn) has not permeated your
hearts'. . . , The [true] believers {mu'minun) are those who believe
in God and His Apostle, and afterwards never doubt, but struggle
with their wealth and their lives in the way of God, these [only]
are the faithful believers (sAdiq). (XLIX, 14-15)

It must be borne in mind, however, that the islam here spoken of
refers mainly to the formula, '1 have surrendered' asiamtu, used
for the formal declaration of the faith. What is implied seems to be
simply that the fact of someone having joined the community of
Muslims does not guarantee that he has * belief ' in the true sense of

1 For h more detailed analysis af the concept of itista itself, set my God and Man
ib the Koran, Chapter VII [■

189

The Analysis of Major Concepts

the word. In the terminology of modem linguistic philosophy we
might say that the expression aslamta ('I have surrendered') is a
'performative' which is a self-involving use of language. In other
words, by declaring aslamtu, the man commits himself to a par-
ticular type of future conduct or implies that he has. a certain attitude
or intention. But, as all 'performatives', the expression askmtu may
be insincere,*

This of course does not in any way detract from, the supreme
religious value of islam as an inner act of the complete surrendering
of one's self to God's will. Taking this, passage as the scriptural basis,
al-Bukharl distinguishes, quite rightly to my mi rid, between two
kinds of itl&m; (i) the formal and superficial type of islam which is
motivated by something not purely religious, the fear of being trilled
(by the Muslims) for example, and (2) the *real islam' {til-islam
f fljy al-kaqlqah). According to him, Surah III, 17/19 refers to this
latter kind of islam: In/m al-dtn 'ijida Allah aUislam 'Verily, the
religion in the sight of God. is Islam, '3

In this sense, isidm is no less an important element of this religion
than man. Only,, the semantic structure of the former is totally
different from that of the latter, for islam, as its name itself suggests,
is based on such ideas as humbleness, patience, reliance, lack of self-
sufficiency, etc., which we discussed in detail in Chapter V.

Here is an illuminating example of the usage of this word showing
the full significance of 'humble submission' in the Quranic concep-
tion of religion.

When Ahraham, together with Ishmael, raised the foundations of
the House, [he said], 'Our liOrd, accept [this] from us. Verily,
Thou art the Hearer, the Omniscient Our Lord, makes us two
submissive (musiim) unto Thee, and of our progeny a community
submissive iummah muslitttdk) unto The*, and show us our sacred
rites, and turn towards us [i,e, forgive our sins}. Verily, Thou art
the Forgiving, the Merciful.' . . .

When his Lord, said unto him, 'Surrender {mslm, imperative form
of isldtn),' he said, ' I have surrendered (aslamttt) to the Lord of all
beings/ And Abraham admonished his sons to do the same, and
Jacob likewise, saying, 'My sons, God has chosen for you the
[true] religion. So you should never die save as men who have
surrendered [muslitn&ny (II t 121-122, 125-126/127-128, 151-132)

In this important passage, the deep religious meaning of ' surrender-
ing* comes out with utmost clarity. And, it should be remarked, the

1 Ste ait interesting study of ihij kind of language by JDr- Dwiaid Evjns, The
Lt%ic of Self-±M>oivr)**rt (I^ntfon, JOfo), pp. 1 1-78,

J z~.-ii okha;3, £<;M> wirh Comm. of al-KirmlnI (Cairo, 1030}, f, iti.

The Believer

act of surrendering is immediately identified with 'the [true] re-
ligion '. We sec that the Surrender, far from being, as is suggested by
XLIX just quoted, a lukewarm and superficial sort of belief, or the
first fumbling step in the faith, is the very foundation on which the
whole religion of Islam is to be based.

In the following passage, muslim is contrasted with qasif which
means 'one who deviates from the right course (and, consequently,
acts unjustly)', with the implication that islam is the sole right course
to take.

Verily, of us some are mvsUmun (pi.), and some are qasifun (pi),
Whoso has surrendered (aslama) they have taken the right course,
but as for the gasifun, they have become fuel for Gehenna. (LXXII,
14-15)

Since the Surrender here means the surrendering of one's whole
being to God, and to God alone, a musHm would flatly contradict
himself if he should assume a conciliatory attitude towards idolatry,
In this sense musHm is the direct opposite of mushtih.

I am commanded! to be the first of those who surrender (asltnw),
[For God has said to mc], ' Be not thou [Muhammad] of those who
associate [i,e, the idol-worshippers] [musftrikm, pi.).* (VI, 14)

Most probably, the problematic word haaif which begins to appear
in the Qur^an from the later Meccan period, has much to do with this
conception of the exclusive — i.e. purely monotheistic — Surrender
to God as the true, or right, religion. As far as we can judge from its
actual usage in the Qur'an, ftamf,^ whatever its etymology, is a re-
ligious term whose semantic structure seems to comprise: among
Other things the ideas of {1) the true religion decp-ruoted in the
natural disposition in every human soul to believe in the One God,
(3) absolute submission to this One God, and (3) being the antithesis
of idol-wotshipping. It is highly significant in this conception that
Abraham, who, as we have just seen, was the first 'surrenderer', is
made the representative, or the ideal type of kanif. The Qur'an
emphasizes repeatedly that Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Chris-
tian, much less an idol- worship per, but a hamf who discovered the
vanity of polytheism by meditation and logical reasoning, 5 I shall
give here a few examples that are most relevant to our subject,

Verily, Abraham was a paragon of virtue {ummahy* submissive

* I have dealt with the problem of the pre* Islamic Hinifitic movement in CM
anil .W«u, Chapter IV. Section j r

s (y. Stall xxi, 51 /jo b. ; vr, u e.

* Thene is a s™d deal o( daagreernent among the eommentanohi con*eming the
right interpretation -of thii word in this context. Some take it in the rrwisi ordinary

[01

The Analysis of Major Concepts

to God, a hamf and not of the idol-worshippers {mmiirikin), ever
thankful {stutter) for His favors— that He chose him and guided
him to it straight path. . . , Then We revealed unto thee [Muham-
mad], '.Follow the religion of Abraham, who was a hamf and no
idol-worshipper,' (XVI, 1 31-133, 1 34/ 1 20-121, 113)

In the following quotation, the conceptual opposition of hanlf and
mushrik is particularly emphasized;

Set thy face steadfast towards the religion, as a hanif, and be thou
not of the idol-worshippers (mmhnkin), And call not, besides God,
on what can neither profit nor harm thee [i.e. idols]. (X, 105-106)

The next two emphastjie rather that the religion of the hamf is the
true 'upright 1 religion, The first of them, moreover, points out that
the pure monotheism as represented by Abraham is the natural
religion of mankind, to which all men would be led if only they
followed the guidance of the God-given instinct in their souls*

Set thy face steadfast towards the religion as a hanif, in accordance
with the natural disposition upon which He created mankind.
There can be no altering the creation of God. That is the upright
[or 'right' qayyttn] religion, though most men know it not, (XXX,

39/30)

They were commanded only to worship God, making the religion
pure for Him, as husafa' (pi. of hanif), and to perform the prayer,
and to give alms. That is the upright [community; the word
qayyimeh being interpreted as an epithet qualifying ummah which
is here understood], (XCVIII, 4/5)

The original words for 'making the religion pure for Him 1, in the

passage just quoted are: rmikidisvt laku at-din? The word tmtkktis is
the participial-adjectival form of the verb ahhlasa meaning approxi-
mately 'to make (or keep) pure, free from all admixture ', It is some-
times translated, more or less rightly, 'sincere' in English. The root
KH-L-S, under its various forms, is very frequently used in the
Qur'an to denote the type of the pure monotheistic faith that is
suggested by the term hanlf, in contradistinction to all forms of
shirk. The underlying idea is that, by " associating' anything with
God, man adulterates, as it were, hie religion with foreign elements
and makes it l impure 1 .

sense of 'nation' or 'caipmuttrry', but this gives a wry odd meaning. Mere I fellow

another, more reasonable interpretation.

T The phruse ' mafcinjr. Q]« religion pure for Him h has in some important places
in the Qujr : 4n quite a different cminotation — ''temporary monotheism" rs I would
till it, For *■ {fcUEled explanation of this phenomenon., set Clad and Man, Chapter
IV, Section 2,

192

The Believer

We have sent down to thee the Scripture with Truth, So worship
God, making thy religion pure for Him. Is not the pure (kkdlis)

religion for God alone? (XXXIX, 2-3)

Tn the following passage, the same act of 'keeping the religion
unmixed' is mentioned in conjunction with the 'surrender' irldnt-,
showing the most intimate relationship between the two.

Say, 'I am commanded to worship God, maintaining my religion
pure for Him. And I am commanded to be the first of those who
surrender {muslimm).'

Say, *God do 1 worship, making my religion pure for Him. Worship
you, then, what you will apart from Him!' (XXXIX, 14, 16-17/
1 1-12, 14-J5)

It may he remarked that the following quotation makes mention of
Abraham as one of those who were made mukhlis by the hand of
God Himself.

Remember Our servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, endowed with

might and vision. Verily, We made them pure (akkiafnd) with
something unmixed (khdiifah), that is, the remembrance of the
Abode of the Hereafter. (XXXVIII, 45-46)

Divine Guidance

As 1 remarked earlier in connection with the concept ofdaldi 'going
astray ', it is one of the most characteristic features of Quranic
thought that it conceives of 'religion' in terms of the 'guidance' of
God. In this conception, the religion in the sense of isldm-iman is
nothing other than iktida 3 (verb, ihtodd) which literally means J to be
rightly guided' or 'acceptance of guidance '. This is but a corollary
of the basic fact that, Ln the Qur'an, Revelation is regarded as es-
sentially a merciful guidance (httdd) for those who are apt to believe.
Indeed, even the casual reader of the Qur^an would not fail to notice
that through the whole of it there runs the fundamental thought
that 'God guides whom He will', or --which wouldj logically, collide
with the preceding — that God is absolutely fair" in giving guidance
graciously to all men, but some people accept it while others reject
it of their own free will. In either case, the revealed 'signs' are
divine Guidance.

If there comes unto you guidance (hudd) from Me, then whoso
follows My guidance shall never go astray nor fall into misery.
But whoso turns away from My remembrance (Jfa'ftr), His shall
be a strait life, and We shall raise him blind on the Day of Resurrec-
tion, {XX, 121.-124/133-12+)

1 93

The Analysis of Major Concepts

it will be interesting to note that in the latter half of this passage
the word tittdd * guidance' is replaced hy dhikr 'remembrance 1 ,
which is just one of the usual words in the Quran denoting Revela-
tion in the sens* of what serves to recall God to one's mind. In the
Following passage a revealed Book as a whole is Considered 'guidance'.

Verily, We have brought to them a Scripture which we have ex-
pounded, baaed on [true] knowledge, a guidance fyuda) and a mercy
for a people that believe, (VII, 50/53)

So, viewed from the human standpoint, * belief 1 is neither more nor
less than 'accepting the guidance' and to choose the right path, while
kufr means 'turning away from the guidance' so as to go astray from
the right path. Here is an example in which the human act of ' belief '
appears explicitly connected with the idea of divine guidance:

They were young men who believed (-amanH) in their Lord, and

We increased them in guidance (liudti}. (XVI IT, 13-13)

Most evidently, the word 'guidance' here might very well be
replaced by 'belief* without any essential change in the general
meaning ejf the sentence, In the next quotation, also, 'belief' with
all its characteristic feature* is semanticaliy equated with the state
of J those who arc guided 1 .

It is. not for the idol-worshippers {mmkrikitt 'those who associate'}
to frequent the sanctuaries of Cod, witnessing as they do kufr
against themselves. . . . Only he is allowed to frequent the sanc-
tuaries of God who believes (omana) in God and the Last Day,
and performs the prayer, and gives the alms, and fears (yakhsha)
none but God — such men may possibly be of the guided (tmth-
fadltt part. pi.). {IX, 17-1&)

He who is 'guided' takes, of course, the right way, This phase of
the matter is usually denoted by another root R-SH-D. The root
appears in the Quran under several forms' — verbal: rashada, nominal:
raskad, ruskd, ruthad* rushid. The first of the quotations that follow
brings out most explicitly the intimate semantic relationship be-
tween 'guidance' and the concept of 'right direction'.

We have heard a marvellous Qur'an that guides {yahdi) to the
right way (rushd). (LXXII, 1-2)

When, it is related in Surah XL, 29, a certain believer among
Pharaoh's folk admonished his brethren against doing wrong to the

people of Moses, and said, among other things, that 'God guides

104

The Rth'evtr

{yafidi) not him who is a musrif-p and a big liar {hadhdliaU^ Pharaoh,
offended at this, uttered the following words:

I only let you see what I see ! And I only guide (ahdl) you in the
way of right direction (raskad) I (XL, 30/29)

In the following two passages, rushd is contextually identified with
j«art and iMm respectively.

There should be no compulsion in religion. The right way {mthd)
has come distinct from error (ghayy); whoso disbelieves {yahfur)

in idols arid believes (jwWn) in God, Has £<>t liuld of the firm handle
which will never break. (II, 257/256)

Verily, of us some have surrendered (mttsUtnSn) and some are
unjust (qdiitiiti'y Whoso has surrendered {aslama), they have taken
the right course {raskad), (LXXII, 14-15)

The Fear of God

Turning now to the inner structure of the concept of imast itself, wc
shall note in the hist place the fact that in the Quran it stands on two
key concepts; taqtad 'fear of God' and shuhr 'thankfulness'. In thi3
section we shall deal with the first of them.

The Quranic Revelauun, particularly in the earlier period of the
prophetic career of Muhammad, abounds in most impressive esehato-
logical visions. And the concept of ieiqmt is closely connected with
this general atmosphere. In other words, taqwd, in this particular
context, is an eschatoiogical fear of the catastrophic Hour.

O mankind, fear (ittaqu) your Lord ! Verily the earthquake of the
Hour will be a tremendous thing I (XXII, 1}

The fear of the Last Judgment and the Lord of the Day- — that is
the most fundamental motif of this new religion, that underlies all
its aspects and determines its basic mood. To believe in God means,
briefly, to fear Him as the Lord of the Day, the austere Judge who
will punish the Kafirs for their obstinate kufr with the eternal Hell
Fire. The most concise possible formula of definition for 'believer'
in the earlier Surahs is *one who trembles in fear before God'.

It will be easy to understand now why in the Quran 'belief ' and
1 fear ' are very often used almost synonymously with each other.
One example may suffice.

The Kafirs are lured by the beauty of the present world, and they
laugh at those w!io believe, but those who fear God {ittaqaw, a

s Sec above, Chapter VIII, pp. 174-177.

'95

The Analysis of Major Concepts

verbal form of taqmd) [i.e. the believers} shall be plated above
them on the Day of Resurrection. (II, 20S/212)

The close relationship that exists between * belief and 'fear' may
also express itself in the form of art implication: if A then B. Note
that, as a matter of actual fact, B (that is, 'fear' in this case) mostly
takes the form of an imperative sentence. ' Fear (ittaqQ) God, if you
arc true believers." (V, 02/^; see also 112, and passim}*

If ' fear' forms in this way the central element of the conception of
'belief 1 , it is only natural that kafr should represent its. opposite.
The fnuttaqi ('one who is characterized by tagwd') is in the Qur'Jn,
constantly contrasted with the kafir* Here is a typical example:

The likeness of Paradise which is promised unto those who are
god-fearing (muttaqtm pi.): rivers flowing underneath, it, its food
eternal, and also its shade. This is the reward of those who fear
God tyttaqato), while the reward of the disbelievers (kafitiri) is the
Fire. (XIII, 35)

Sometimes we find xalim behaving as the antonym of nmttaqT.

Verily, the wrong-doers {salimtn pJ.) are friends of each other,
while God is the friend of those who are god-fearing (mattaqm).
(XLV, [Sjiq)

As is obvious, taqted is not in any way an ordinary kind of ' fear'. 4
And yet it is, originally at least, the emotion of fear. This fa proved
by the fact that the Quran uses as synonyms of tttqv>d in several
places some other words that are commonly used for the ordinary
sort of 'fear'* The most important of them hhathy&h— the corres-
ponding verb is khathiya — and khaaif, I shall begin with a brief
analysis of the meaning of the former.

The synonymity — at least within the bounds of the Qur'anic
language — of khoshynh with toqutd is best shown by the following
example in which the verb khashiya is used in an analytic phrase
which ia precisely designed to explain the word mutt&qi.

The godfearing ftnuttaqinj who fear [yokhshitwita from khashiya)
their Lord hi the Unseen, being affected with the fear {mushftqujui,
another synonym) of the [Last] Hour. (XXI, 49-50/48-4^)

The synonymity is also attested — though in a somewhat looser way—
— by the fact that khttshyak and taqasd often appear together in one
and the same sentence, with almost exactly the same meaning.

* For 1 more detailed pUlologicsl discussion of the word itwpmi as it is used in
both Jdiiilxyah ptxjlf} and the Qurtrt see G*f *ud Mo*, Chapter TX, Section 4,

iofr

The Betitver

Whoso obeys God and His Apostle, and fears (yokAsho, from
khashiya) God and fears {yatt&qi, from taqwd) Him, such will be

the ultimate gainers, (XXIV, $ij$l)

We saw above that Paradise is promised to those who are char-
acterized by the property of logout* Exactly the same is true of him
'who khashiya his Lord", another piece of evidence that there is, in
such contexts, no notable difference between the words in question.

Verily those who believe, and do good works, , . , their reward is
with their Lord : Gardens of Eden underneath which riveis flow,
therein to dwell forever. , . . Such {a reward] is for him who fears
(khashiya) his Lord, (XCVIII, 7-8)

It may be remarked, further, that in the passage just quoted the
phrase 'he who khashiya his Lord 1 is used evidently as a substitute
for 'believer'.

The word khashyah, it appears, belongs to the class of words marked
by semantic expressiveness. Judging by the actual usage in the Qur'an,
it describes an overwhelming emotion of violent terror that affects
the senses. This facet of its meaning is best brought to light by the
following example :

God has sent down the best discourse in the form of a Scripture , , ,
whereat a chill creeps over the skins of those who fear (ytittfutkauina)
their Lord, but after a white, their skins and their hearts soften at
the remembrance of -God. This is the guidance of God, whereby
He guides whomsoever He likes. (XXX [X, 24/23)

The expressiveness of the word is brought out equally well by the
following example. It is obvious that the khashyah of God is here

being considered as charged with something Lke explosive energy.

If We sent down this Qur'an upon a mountain, thou [Muhammad]
wouldst see it humbled, rent asunder by the fear {khashyah) of
God. (LIX, 21}

In so far as the QurWic Arabic is concerned, the verb khashiya
almost invariably takes God as its object. Sometimes, however, the
'fear' happens to go in the wrong direction. And then it is Man,
not God, that is the object of the verb. The following passage is of
particular interest in that it emphasises explicitly that the proper
object of khashyah should be God and not Man. The reference is
to the occasion when the Prophet married Zaynab. Zaynab was the
beloved wife of Zayd, the Prophet's freedman and adopted son, one
of the most loyal of all the early Muslims* One day, in Zayd's ab-
sence, Muhammad saw Zaynab and was visibly attracted by her
superb beauty. She told her husband the impression she had made

197

The Analysis of Major Concepts

on tbc Prophet, Upon this, Zayd decided to divorce her so that.
Muhammad might marry her. Muhammad hesitated to accept this,
offer, because he was apprehensive of the scandal it would raise
among the believers if it became known.

Thou [Muhammad] wast [when thou didst decline the offer}
hiding in thy he^rt lhat which Cod was to bring to light [i.e. the
desire to marry Zaynab] ; thou didst fear (takkshd) men when it
was rather God that thou shouldst fear. (XXXIII, 37)

Finally I shall give an example of the use of the word khashiya in
a non-religious context. The 'object' of fear in this case js Pharaoh
and his hosts, or rather the fact of being overtaken by them.

We revealed unto Moses, 'Depart with My servants [i.e. the be-
lievers — here, the Israelites in Egypt] by night, and strike for them
a dry path in the midst of the sea. Thou shouldst not fear (takftdf,
from khetsf) overtaking, neither shouldst thou be afraid [takhshd).

{XX. 79-80/77]

Incidentally, the passage here quoted has brought to light the fact
that khashyak may be replaced by another word, kkawf, without
occasioning any notable change in meaning, To this latter word we
now turn.

Properly, the word khawf ieems to denote the natural emotion of
fear in general. It may naturally denote fear caused by some unusual,
mysterious phenomenon. Thus in the Qur^n the word is used
repeatedly in reference to what Moses felt when he saw sticks and
ropes miraculously changed into writhing snakes. Here 1 give two
typical examples:

'Throw down thy staff' [this is said by God to Moses], And when
he saw it quivering as if it were a serpent, he turned back and took
to his heels. ' Moses, fear (iakkaf) not. The Messengers [of God]
should not fear {yakkafu) in My presence' (XXVI I, 10}

They [i.e. the magicians of Egypt] said, l Moses, either thou wilt
throw, or we shall be the first to throw. 1 He said, ' Kay, you throw
[first]. 1 And lo, their ropes and staffs were made to appear, by
their sorcery, to move about [as if they were snakes]. Thereupon
Moses felt within himself a fear {kktfsh, same as khowf). So We
said unto him, 'Fear (tnkhaf) not. Thou shaft surely overcome
[their sorcery].' (XX, 6S-7 1/65-68)

It is quite natural that this emotion of khataf should be aroused by
God's 'signs', particularly those that concern the punishment in
Hell. God sends down these 'signs' precisely to cause fear (hhamvxtfa
or takkwif) in the minds of the careless men.

198

The Believer

And We do not send [any Apostle] with signs save as a means of
causing fear (tahhufif). ♦ , . We will cause them to fear (nuAhaurtcifu),
but it only serves to increase them in gre*t fughydtt. (XVII, 61^62/
59-60)

Verily, I fear (akMfu) for you the chastisement of an awful day.
(XXVI, 135)

All this is for him. who fears (khdfa) My majesty and fears (khafa)
My threat. (XIV, 17/14.)

A step further, and the object of hhsiof becomes God Himself—
and, naturally, Ha tan in the case of the disbelievers.

That is only Satan who would make his partisans {cax(yttkhauxeifu).
So fear {takft&fii) them not, but fear (JthafiS) you Me, if you are
believers. (Ill, 1 69/175)

That khtituf in. the last sentence,. ' fear you Me, if you are believers',
i3 a perfect synonym of taqu/d will be self-evicknt if we compare it
with another verse from another Sirrah, in which substantially the
same meaning la conveyed precisely by the latter word.

This [in reference to a description that precedes of the Fire] is

wherewith God causes His servants to fear (yjJiJtawteifu). 'O my
servants, so fear {(ttaqQ) Me!' (XXXIX, 18/16)

This is corroborated further by the following sentence put in the
mouth of the pious Ahel when he refuses to stretch out his hand to
kill his hrother Cain even if the latter tries to kill him.

I shall never stretch out my hand to hill thee. Verily, I fear {okhafu}
God, the Lord of the whole world. (V, 31/28)

Likewise, in the next verse wc sec the word khatsf used in the sense
of the fear of God's chastisement, that is, Uafwd in the original
Qur'anic sense.

Call upon Him in fear (khawfan) and craving (tamtfan) [i.e.
craving for His favor, or pardon], (VI r, 54/56)

And, we must note, in Surah V, 26/23, ^ pious believers are called
'those who fear 1 {ulliia'kttia yskksftifi).

la addition to khashyak and kkawf, we may mention the verb
rahiba which behaves usually as a synonym of kkawf, and is in the
particular context of the Qur'an synonymous with taqwsd. The
synonymity is best illustrated in the following passage, in which the
same meaning is expressed twice in succession by means of rakiba

and ;',':r.' :',■;■.

1 99

The Analysis of Major Concepts

God says, 'Take not to yourselves two gods. God is surely only
One God. So Mc do you fear (trhoiw, from rahtba).' His is indeed
what is in the heavens and in the earth. His is the religion for ever.
Other than God then will you fear {tattaquna from ittaqd)\ (XVI,
53-54/51-5=)

In the next quotation, the 'hypocrites* are severely accused of
being more fearful of powerful men than of God, the implication
being that God is the only proper object of rshbsk (nominal form of
rahiba).

You [the Muslims in the ascendant] arouse stronger fear {rahbaft)
in their bosoms than God, This is because they are a people who
understand naught. (LIX, 13)

We might add that the participial form of this verb, rahib, lit. 'one
who fears (God)' is the word in Old Arabic for the Christian mook
devoted to religious exercises in his cell.

Thankfulness

Shukr 'thankfulness* and taqsid represent the two proper types of
human reaction to God's signs. Of the very remarkable place 'thank-
fulness' occupies in the whole system of Islamic ethics I have so
often spoken that there should, be no further need to labor the point

here. Indeed, in an important sense 'thankfulness' is, in Islam,
another name for 'belief. To understand this, we have only to recall
that in Chapter IX we interpreted the word kufr precisely in terms of
'lack 7 of thankfulness.

First of all, I shall give a few examples showing how shukr is

essentially and fundamentally opposed to ktifr in the Quranic out-
look.

Said [Solomon when he saw a miracle], 'This is of my Lord's
grace, that He may try me, whether I am thankful {ashkiiru} or
thankless (ahfitru)* Whoso is thankful [skakara) is only thankful
for the good of his own soul, while whoso is thankless (hafara)
[is so only to the hurt of his own soul].' (XXVII, 40)

If you are thankless [takfurii), God is quite independent of you:
only He is not pleased to find ingratitude (kufr) in His servants.
But if you are thankful {lathkurvj, He will be pleased with it in
you. (XXXIX, 0/7)

Your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are thankful (thahorttm) I will
surely give you more, but if you are thankless (kafariim), verily.
My chastisement shall be terrible.' {XIV, 6-7)

ioo

The Behtvtr

In the following passage, shirk, or the 'ascribing of partners to
God 1 , takes the place of kufr and is opposed to shukr, as the most
characteristic manifestation of ( thanklessness\

You call upon Him humbly and in secret, " If only Thou dclivcrcst
us from this [danger], we shall surely be of the thankful [skakirin).'
Say, 'God delivers you from this and from every affliction, yet
you associate partners {tiKhrik&ta) with Htm." (VI, 63-64)

In the preceding section, I pointed out that God sends down His
signs, especially those that concern Hell and the Fire, as a means of
'causing fear' (takkidf) or 'threat' (wfi'irf). The 'signs' of God are
there also to arouse the feeling of deep gratitude in the minds of men ;
and this is particularly true of those that reveal Him as an in&iitely
gracious and merciful God, The Qur^n never tires of emphasizing
the benevolence which God bestows upon men. And in return for all
the precious gifts He bestows upon him, man is expected to show
Him deep gratitude.

Sometimes the 'sign' is nothing other than the marvellous crea-
tion of man.

He began the creation of man from clay, then He made his pro-
geny out of a jet of despised water, then He shaped him, and
breathed into him of His spirit. And He created for you hearing,
and sight, and hearts. Little thanks you give [taikkuruna) \ (XXXI I,

Sometimes the 'sign' is the alternation of night and day (XXVI IT,

73, and p&ssim), at the sending of rain-clouds whereby God quickens
the earth after death (XLV, 4/5; LVI, 68-69/65-70, etc.), or the
cattle with which He has enriched man (XXXVI, 71-73), or again
the ships like huge mountains that sail in the sea ('If God will, lie
may Still the wind, and then they would have to remain motionless
on the batk thtrn-of,' (XI, IT, jit/j^-jj); in short, everything that
contributes in some way or other towards the maintenance and
furtherance of human existence in this wortd. The Qur'an constandy
returns to these 'signs* of divine benevolence, and in the vast
majority of eases the description ends with the complaint that man
is ever ungrateful.

Verily, God is gracious towards men, but moat of them do not
give thanks {yaskkuruna). (X, 61/60, see also XXVill, 73)

It would be highly interesting to observe that the 'thankfulness'
in its perfect form is, in the Qur'anic conception, not one-sided;
it is reciprocal. If the duty of being thankful to God's favors devolves

201

The Amfysit of Major Cowtpts

on man, God, on. His part, is expected to respond to this act of thank-
fulness with thankfulness. Such mutual give and take of $hukr is the
ideal form of relationship between God and men. Besides, it could
not be otherwise, since ' God is best aware of those who are really
thankful for His benevolence.* (VI, 53).

Whoso does good (khayr) 10 of his own accord., verily, God is
thankful {tk&frir), He is aware of everything, (II, 153/158)

Whoso desires the Hereafter and, being a believer (mtfmm)^
strives after it persistently — those, their striving shall be received
with thanks {/mshkur). (XVII, 20/19)

In Surah LXXVI, after 3 very detailed description of the ever-
lasting enjoyments of Paradise, it is declared that all this is the well-
merited reward for the 'striving 1 of the believers, which has been
gratefully revived by God.

Verily, ail this is a reward for you. Your striving has been received
with thanks (Tnaskkur). (LXXVI, 22.)

M Sec below, Chapter XI a pp. 117-2*1.

202

XL Good and Bad

Turns rs in t\w qijit'an no fci.i.v developed system of abstract
concepts of good and evil. The formation of such a secondary-level
moral language is the work of jurists in post-Quranic ages. The
Qur'anic vocabulary contains a number of words that may be, arid
usually are, translated by 'good* and 'bad'; but many of them are
primarily descriptive or indicative words. If we are justified in treat-
ing them as 'value' terms, it is because they invariably carry, in
actual usage h a marked valuations t import. They are descriptive as
well as evaluative by implication. At the same time, there are, in the
Quran, a number of words for 'good 1 and 'bad* whose primary
function is obviously evaluative rather than descriptive. There are
also borderline eases in which it is difficult to tell whether a given
term is mainly descriptive or mainly evaluative.

As I tried to explain in detail in Chapter VI, morality in Islam had
its origin. in religion and developed exclusively within its eachato-
Iugical framework. Now this eschatologital framework makes the
ultimate destiny of man depend on what he docs in the present
world, with particular reference to whether his conduct furthers or
hinders the cause of Islam. Thence comes the very specific nature
of 'good' and 'bad' in the Qur'anic outlook. Nothing shows this

203

The Analysis of Major Concepts

emphatically religious character of the conception of moral goodness
in Islam better than the word i$lfy which is one of the commonest
words for ethico-reb'gious excellence used in the Qur'Sn.

Salih

The word salih is most commonly translated in English ' righteous' ;
one may as well translate it by 'good'. Whether the translation is
right or not is a matter of only secondary importance, Wh*t \a really
important is to isolate the concrete descriptive content of this word
in the Qnr'anic context.

Irft us remark, in the first plate, that the strongest tie of semantic
relationship binds salih and im&n together into an almost inseparable
unit. Just as the shadow follows the form, wherever there is Imfiti
there are talih&t or, ' good works ', so much so that we may almost feel
justified defining the former in terms of the latter, and the latter in
terms of the former. In brief, the sdUhat are 'belief' 1 fully expressed
in outward conduct. And so it comes about that the expression :
alladhlna cmtim'i wa-'~amihl al-salihat, 'those who believe and do
salik deeds', is one of the most frequently used phrases in the
Qur^ah, 'Those who believe' are not believers unless they manifest
their inner faith in certain deeds that deserve the appellation of
fttiify.

Those who believe and do good works (s d£M() ; such shall be the
inhabitants of Paradise, to dwell therein forever* (II, 7&/S2)

A3 I have indicated earlier, this close relationship between 'faith'
and 'good works' in the Qur'anic conception raises later in theology
a very serious problem. This is mainly due to the fact that the
expression 'those who believe and perform good works' is capable
of being interpreted in two diametrically opposed ways, It suggests,
on the one hand, that these two elements arc so inseparably tied
together that 'faith 1 is inconceivable without 'good works'; * faith \
in other words, cannot be perfect if it is not accompanied by 'good
works'. This is, in short, the doctrine of the Khawarij.

On the other hand, however, the very fact that the Qur'an uses
two different concepts, tmdn and satihat, may be taken as an irrefut-
able evidence that these are in fact two different things. According
to this latter view — which is that of the Murjr'ah — 'faith* is an in-
dependent unit which, essentially, does not need any other element
to be perfect. Why did God separate them from each other conceptu-
alEy if they were an unanalysable whole? However, this is mot a
Quranic problem, and it docs not concern us in the context of the
present work.

304

Good and Bad

We have to go back to the Qur'an itself and ask; What are, then,
these 'good works'? It is clear contextxially that the 'good works'
are those works of piety that have been enjoined by God upon all
believers. As a matter of fact, the verse 77/83 which immediately
follows the passage just quoted and which is given as the Covenant
of God with the Israelites, may be taken as a summary description
of the itilikat. It enumerates the following five elements: to worship
none save God ; to be good (i.e. kind and benevolent, ihtan) to parents,
near kinsmen, orphans, and the needy; to speak kindly to everyone;
to perform the prayer; and to pay the alms.

Of the two following examples, the first emphasizes the element of
pure monotheism as 'a salih deed', and the second discusses prayer
and alms.

Say, 'I [Muhammad] am only an [ordinary] man like you. It is
revealed to me that your God is One God. Whoso hopes for the
meeting with his Lord, let him do good {satik) work, and let him
associate none else with the worship of his Lord.' {XVIII, iro)

Verily, those who believe and do salihat, performing the prayer
and paying the alms, their reward is with their Lord, There shall
be no fear on them, nor shall they grieve. (IT, 277)

In the next quotation, the attitude of arrogance and insolence which

Noah's son takes up towards God's command is regarded as non-
sUlik conduct.

He [God] said, '0 Noah, he is no longer of thy family, for this is a
deed that is not fUlik. So ask not of Me that whereof thou hast no
knowledge [i.e. do not ask Me to deliver him from the Deluge].'
(XI, 46/46)

The word f«#/j docs not always qualify human conduct ; sometimes
we find it also applied to men of a certain type. A brief examination
of some of the examples falling under this head will prove of some
help to ua in analyzing the meaning content of this term. Here is, to
begin with, a passage which we may consider almost a verbal dcniti-
tion of 'f&lifi man '.

Some of the people of the Scripture are a nation upright (qtFimok),
who keep reciting God's signs throughout the night, falling pros-
trate [before God]. They believe in God and the Last Day, enjoin
what is good {ttitfTuf} and forbid what is bad (miffikar), and vie
one with the other in good works {khay-rat). 1 These are of the
sobktn (pi.) (Ill, 109-110/113-] 14).

J For mi BTuJy&is of jmfruf, wtuwkar, and khayret, sec pp. 113—111.

20 5

Tfte Analysis of Major Ctmceptf

The following passage bears witness to the fact that the act of
giving the alms is regarded as at least one of the characteristic marks
of a. faith man.

Spend of what We have provided you before death comes unto
anyone of you and makes him say, ' My Lord, if only thou wouldst
allow me the grace of a. little while, so that I might give alms and
become one of the fjalihin. (LXJIT, 10)

It is rsfiteworthy that JtmiH Christ is counted among the fiitihin
'He shall speak to people in the cradle, and grown up, lit shall be
of the saitkm ' (III, 41/46), A few verses before this in the same Surah
we find John the Baptist also called a 'Prophet among the sdiihin.

(T- 34/39)

We may also note that the ' believers ' are sometimes called very
characteristically the 'fdlifa servants ' of God.

Verily, We have written, in the Psalms, after the remembrance,
'The earth shall my fdlih servants inherit, 1 (XXI, 105)

[Solomon] said, 'My Lord, urge me to be thankful (asfikam) for
Thy favor wherewith Thou hast favored me and my parents, and
to do good work (ftilifr) that shall be pleasing unto Thee; do Thou

admit mc by Thy mercy in the number of Thy sAUh servants. 1
(XXV II, it))

The opposite of jatihat is in the Qur'an the word sayyi'at derived
from the root SW\ This root itself will be analysed later on. Here it
most suffice to give some quotations in which faith is clearly opposed
to some of the derivatives of this root. In the first example, we see
the characteristic cliche of which I spoke above, 'those who believe
and do saUkSt* opposed to 'those who commit sayyi'at'.

Do those who commit sayyriit think that we shall treat them in the
same way as these who believe and do sdliMt, equal in life and
death? How ill they judge. (XLV, 20/21)

In the nest passage, idlih is opposed to sayyPak (in the singular).

Whoso does an evil deed {sayyr'&K) shall be repaid exactly the like
thereof, but whoso does a good [deed] {sdlik), whether man or

woman, being a believer — such shall enter Paradise and shall be
supplied with food without reckoning. (XL, 43/40)

Sayyi'ok is a noun formed from the adjective tayyf. Here is an
example of the usage of this adjective itself, qualifying the noun ' amai
'action' or 'deed*, which is understood. It is, be it noted, used in
contradistinction to "^atrial fdhk.

206

(ioad and Bud

Some of the Bedouin around you are 'hypocrites' . , , and others
have confessed their sins (dkutiSb) [i.e. they confessed that they
had stayed behind from the Apostle in one of his raids on the
Kafirs]; they have mixed a good work { r amat sdiih) with another
evil (sayy?) work. It may be that God will forgive them. (IX,
102-103/1 or- 1 02)

S&* is another noun derived from the same root; this, too, may be
used in opposition to salik, with exactly the same meani ng as sayyfak.
The following example must be compared with the verse f rum Surah
XL, which we have just quoted. One will note that the general context
ia the same in both cases.

Whoso does evil [ss') shall be recompensed for it, and will not
find for him beside God, a friend or a helper. Whoso does any of
the sdliMt, whether man or woman, being a believer — such shall

enter Paradise, and they shall not be wronged even a small spot
on a date-stone, (Tv*, 133-123/123-134)

For all this, the proper antithesis of su' or wryyi' is not saiih but
another word, husatt. So the meaning structure of the root SW^, will
came up again for consideration, at a later stage, when we shall deal
with the root RSN.

Birr

Very similar to $alih in meaning — though not in form— is the word
birr, which is perhaps among the most elusive of the Qur'ank moral
terms. In any case, an important clue to the basic semantic structure
of this word may be gained if we compare it with faith which we have
just examined. As we liavc seen, in the semantic constitution of SLH
a very prominent place is given to factors relating to justice and love
in human relations, so much so that — to take two representative
elements — the act of rendering religious service to God and that of
feeding the poor arc made to stand there almost on the same footing.
Nor, if we reflect, should this surprise us, for the Gur'ah as a whole
gives an outstanding emphasis to justice and love in social life. Piety,
in other words, cannot be piety unless it manifests itself in various
works motivated by the will to practice justice and love towards
others.

Now the word birr seems to lend further confirmation to this view.
An extremely important passage from Surah II, which I quoted in
Chapter II, furnishes a contextual definition of this word, at least
within the genera! framework of the Qur'anic thought.

The birr does not consist in your turning your faces towards the
East or the West, but [true] birr is this, that one believes in God,

207

The Analysis of Major Concepts

and the Last Day, and the angels and the Scripture, and the
prophets', that one gives one's own wealth howsoever cherished
it may be, to kinsfolk, orphans, the needy, the wayfarer, and
beggars, and also for the sake of slaves; that one performs the
ritual prayer, pays the alms. And those who keep their covenant
when they have once covenanted and are patient in distress and
hardship; these are they who are sincere; these arc they who are
godfearing, (II, 172/177)

A glance at the elements here enumerated as constituting true birr
would make us understand at once that there is practically nothing to
distinguish it from salihat, or true tmait. We see at the same time why
this term has been sa variously translated in English, It may very
well be rendered as 'piety 1 ; it may no less justifiably be rendered
as 'righteousness' or ' kindness'. But any of these translations
taken alone, cannot possibly do justice to the original word which
includes all these and perhaps still others in its complex meaning.
Other examples culled from the Qur'an serve only to bring out this
or that aspect of this complex meaning of birr.

Birr and iaqwd. In the last sentence of the passage just cited, we see
birr brought into the most explicit connection with 'fear of God'
{taqwd). It is emphatically stated there that those who fulfil all the
duties, social as well as religious, included under the name of bin,
are alone worthy to be called 'sincere, or true, believers' (alladftina
sadaqS) and truly 'godfearing 1 (muttaqun). In a similar way the
passage declares that true birr does not consist in the keeping of the
meaningless taboos but in 'fearing' God,

It is not birr that you should enter your houses from the hacks of
them. 2 But birr is to fear [God}. So enter your houses by the doors
and fear God. (II, 185/189)

Birr and almsgiving:

You attain not to birr until you expend of what you love. And
whatever yon expend, God is aware of it, (III, 86/93)

Probably birr in the next quotation also refers to almsgiving:

Will you enjoin birr upon others while you yourselves forget? And
yet you always read the Scripture I Have you no sense? (II,

W44)

1 Obviously this refers to a taboo-custom that was prevalent in Jahttlyah,
Ksivfirjl cxiilanndtms have been offered. AcumrJinn to die of thein, for instance,
an Aiib, when he went out in acur-ch of something and came back without it, uaed
io enter his house or tent front the hack entrants in order- to avert from himself the
effect of the evil Omen (Sharif al-Murta^a, Amdit, ], 377).

2flS

Good and Bad
Birr and piety to parents:

He [John, son of Zachariah] was godfearing (taqt, adj.) and pious
(fiarr, adj. from the same root as birr) towards his parents. (XIX,

He [God] has enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I
live, and birr towards my mother. He has not made me a miserable,
insolent fellow, (XIX, 32-33/31-32)

Birr and qis} (equity and justice in conduct):

As to those who have not fought you on account of religion nor
driven you out from your homes, God forbids you not that you
should show birr {tabarrv. verb) to them and act equitably (tuqiifu,
verb) towards them. Verily, God loves those who act equitably
(muqsitin, part, pi.). (LX, &)

In the passage which I have just quoted, we see qisf behaving almost
synonymously with birr. But while birr, as wc saw, is a compreliensive
name for all actions motivated by love and righteousness, and stimu-
lated by the religious experience of 'fear', qaf, has a much more
limited application, being used chiefly as a forensic term for justice,
or impartiality in dealing with others. As such, the word is most often
applied to the verdict in a trial.

If they fi.e, the Jews hostile to Islam] come to thee [Muhammad],
judge thou between them, or simply turn away from them. . . .
Rut in case thou juigest, then judge between them with justice
(qis}). Verily, God loves those who practice justice {muqtitJtt,
part, pi.}. (V, 46/42)

Every nation has its own Apoetk. So when their Apostle comes
[on the Day of Judgment] it will be judged between them with
justice (quf), and they will not be wronged (yu^iajtiund). (X, 48/47)

It should be noticed that 'being judged with qis} 1 is here made
equivalent to 'not suffering any wrong (qubti) 1 . In other words, qitt
in such contests is clearly opposed to $ulm, a fact which may greatly
aid us in understanding the meaning of both qisi and suhtt.

As we might expect, the final yardstick of justice in such cases is,
according to the Quranic view, furnished by God's will. Revelation,
in short, is the ultimate basis of qis}-, The point comes out with utmost
clarity in verses like the following:

Whoso judges not by what God has sent down: such arc kilfirStt.
, . . Whoso judges not by what God sent down: such are wrong-
doers (zalimun). (V, 48-49/44-45)

8 209

The Analysis of Major Concepts

More concretely, qist may refer to Various cases involving equity or
justice. Thus, to take a typical instance, he who takes the witness.
stand should act with perfect impartiality and not allow himself to
be swayed by hia own personal b'kes and dislikes,

O believers, be upright before God as witnesses with qisf. Let not
your ill-will towards a people tempt you into the sin of not acting
equitably (ttfdilu). Act equitably (i'dilu); that is nearer to taqpd.
Fear God, for God is aware of what you do. (V, n/8)

The concrete meaning of the phrase ' with qisf' is made clear by what
follows it in the verse. Essentially the same is true of the next example,

O believers, be upright before God as witnesses with qiit, even
though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kinsmen,
whether [the accused] be rich or poor, (IV, 134/135)

The next passage concerns the legal way of dealing on credit.

O believers, when you deal on credit one with another for a
definite term, write it down, and let a writer write it between yon
with c adl (-qUt). « . . Be not averse to writing it down, be [the
amount] small or great, with its date of payment. That is more
equitable (sqsaf, eomp.) in God's sight, (II, 282)

The word is also used in reference to the standards and obligations
in commerce. In the Qur'an there are frequent exhortations to ' give
full measure and full weight, in justice'. An example may suffice:

O my people, give full measure and full weight with qist, and do
not defraud men of their things. (XI, 86/85)

There exists 111 Arabic another word which is almost a technical
term for the occurrence of non+qisf in the specific field of measure
and weight: fsffafa (root JF), which conveys precisely the meaning
of 'giving short measure of weight'. This, too, appears in the

Quran in a very important passage. The context itself furnishes, as
it were, a verbal definition of the word:

Woe unto the defrauders (mufaffifin, parL pi,) who, when they
measure against others, take full measure, but, when they measure
or weigh for others, give short measure. (LXXX1II, 1-3) 3

3 It s* hlterwiins to <»bwn* chat thin concept of juM«* in m*a*Lipe is extended
to die heavenly Balance — the 'just' fl-alancc, as it is culled— which ia to be employed
uti tte Day Of Judgment.

We shall set up the Balance of qit( for the Pay yf Resurrection, 50 that n« soul
ihal! be wronged in aupbt. Even if it he of the weight of a grain of mttsiaid seed.
We shall bring it out, for We a« an absolute reckoner. (XXI, +8/47}.

210

Good and Bad

In Surah II, 2S2 that has been quoted above, we met with a syno-
nym of qisft namely the word < adl. Here I shall give two further
examples which will confirm, the close relationship between the two
words. The first passage contains gitl in its first half while in the
second half approximately the same idea is expressed by c adl,.

In case you fear that you cannot act justly (tuqsifu, verb) towards
the orphans [in your charge], marry of the women, who seem good
to you two, three, or four- But if you fear you cannot act equitably
(ta^diisi) [towards so many wives], then only one, or what your
right hands possess [i.e. slave-girls]. Thus it is more likely that
you wiU not be partial, (IV, 3)

If two parties of the believers combat one with another, try to
make peace between them. Then, if one of the parties acts wrong-
fully out of insolence {bagfiat, from, hagkd which we considered
earlier, in Chapter X), fight the party that acts wrongfully until it
returns to God's commandment, If it returns, make peace between
them with '-adi, and act equitably {aqsi'.u, from qist). Verily, God
loves those who act equitably {miqsifin., part. pi.}. (XLIX, 9)

The next example is of particular significance in that it brings to
light the focai point of the meaning of ^ndl by contrasting it with
moyl 'partiality*, or favoritism.

You will not be able to act equitably (ta^dilu, verb) to all your

wives, however eagerly you may wish to do so. But yet do not be
altogether partial {id tamUu kail al-mayt) so as to leave one as in
suspense, (IV, 128/129}

Fasud

That the word fasad (or the corresponding verb afsads) is a very
comprehensive word which is capable of denoting all kinds of evil-
doing is clear from an examination of its behavior in non-religious
contexts. Even within the limits of the Quran, we find a few examples
of such non-religious use of the word. Thus, for instance, in the
Chapter of Joseph the act of stealing is called by this name.

'By God 1 , they said, 'well you know that we came not here to do
evil {nufsida, from afsadd) in the land. We are not thieves,' (XII,
73)

This is said by Joseph's brothers who have fallen under suspicion of
having stolen the king's goblet. In the following passage the reference
is to the acts of atrocious violence committed by Gog and Magog
everywhere on the earth:

211

Tht Analysis of Major Concepts

They said, 'O Two-Horned [i.e. Alexander the Great], look, Cog
and Magog are doing evil (mufsidun, part, of afsada) in the earth.
Wilt thou set up a rampart between us and them, if we pay thee
tribute?' (XVII I, 93/94)

In another passage, which, by the way, should be regarded as a
'religious* context from the point of view of the Quriiuit the same
word is used to mean the odious habit for which Sodom was notorious.

Lot said to his people, 'Verily, you commit an abomination
{fahiskakf such as none in alt the world has ever committed before
you. What, do you approach men, and cut the way [robbing way-
farers], and commit in your assembly things disapproved

{munktit)V 5

But the only answer of his people was, ' Bring us God's chastise-
ment, if what thou speakesr. is true!' He add, 'My Lord, help me
against this people who do evil {mufsidin)' (XXIX, 27-29/48-30)

The word is also applied to the conduct of Pharaoh, violently
oppressing the Israelites without any justifiable reason:

Verily, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and divided the people
thereof into sects; he oppressed one party of them [i.e, the
Israelites], slaughtering their sons and sparing their women.
Verily, he did evil [lit. he was one of the mufsidtn], (XXVIII, 3/4)

In another place, the word is applied to the Egyptian sorcerers in
the service of the Court. The reference is to the well-known scene
of the magic tournament in the presence of Pharaoh.

Moses said, "That which you have shown is sorcery. God will
surely bring it to naught, for God will never set right (yuslihu,
from aflaka) the work of those who do evil (miifstdm).* (X, 81)

In properly religious contexts, however, the word very often, if not
invariably, has the restricted meaning of ktifr. Here I give a few typical
examples, of which the first applies the word mttfsid to the 'dis-
believers ! in particular *eference to their takdhib. This is dear from
the general context from which the passage has* been taken.

Of them some believe therein [i.e. in the Qur'an], and some believe
not therein. Hut thy Ixird knows well who are the evil-doers
(mufsidiJt). (X, 41/40)

Those who disbelieve (hafarH) and bar from the way of God — We
shall inflict upon them punishment after punishment, for that
they were doing evil (yafiidima)* (XVI, 90/88)

* For an explanation of this concept ace pp. 233-134.

* See the following Settkul, pp. 313-217.

212

Good and Bod

There is no god but God, . . . But if they turn away, verily God
knows tliose who do evil (mufsidJn). (Ill, 55-56/62-63)

ft is interesting to note that in a passage the same word is applied
to the monotheists from the standpoint of the Kafirs. Here the
Spread of the monotheistic movement causing irreparable damage to
the traditional idolatrous customs is regarded as 'working corruption
in the land'.

The chiefs of Pharaoh's people said, 'Wilt thou [Pharaoh] leave

Moses and his people to do evil (yufsidft) in the land and to
abandon thee and thy gods?' (VII, 124/127)

Mdruj and Munkar

M&'riif Among the various terms that may be regarded as con-
stituting partial or near Arabic equivalents for the English 'good',
mtfriif occupies a special place, because it seems to represent an idea
that goes back to a remote past. In the Muslim exegeses of later ages
we see the word jbaVm/ defined very often as 'what is acknowledged
and approved by Divine Law*. 6 But this is of Course but a reflection
of the state of affairs peculiar to the classical age of Islam, and conceals
rather than reveals the real nature of the word. The concept is far
older than skaf. It belongs to, and is based on the tribal type of
morality that was peculiar to JahilTyah. As Professor Reuben Levy
has remarked very pertinently, the use of this word — with its opposite,
munkar — in the Qur 3 an for good (and evil), shows that the Qur'an
adopted the tribal moral terminology and made it an integral part of
the new system of ethics* Mtfrtif means literally 'known', i.e. what
is regarded as known and familiar, and, therefore,, also socially
approved. Tts antithesis munkar means what is disapproved precisely
because it is unknown and foreign. 'Tribal societies in a state of
civilization parallel to that of the Arab tribes of the J&kiltya., would,
in the same way as they did, regard the known and familiar as the
good and the strange as the eviL^ Here I give, as an example, a
verse by a Jahili poet, MuearV aI- c AbsI, in which he laments the
death of the BanE ; Amr tribe and extols them as ideal people.

Uldka baml khayr ma-shart kilayhimil *
jamFan wa-tna'ruf tilumma wa-munhiT

Those were people of both good (khayr) [for their friends] and evil
{sharr) [for their enemies] at the same time, they used to be [the

* Sot, for nampli^, al-RiyiJawi, <ymvm. cm Surah IT, 33.2,

' Reuben Levy: Tht Social Structure 0/ hlatn (Camhridft. I9S7), p. 194.

213

Tki Analysis of Major Concepts

cause] of tnefrOf [for their friends] that befell the latter and of
launhar [for their enemies]. 8

But the word mtftuf, whatever its origin, is actually used in the
Qur'an in a rather more restricted sense than, this* We might perhaps
do best to examine, first of all, an example which will give us an
important clue as to what the Qur^ah itself meant when it used this
word. The passage in question is contained in the admonition which
God gives especially to the wives of Muhammad.

O wives of the Prophet, you are not as ordinary women. If you
[truly] fear [God], be not too tender in your speech [in talking to

men other than your husband], lest he in whoae heart is sickness
should become lustfuL But always speak ma^rHf words, (XXXHI,

It is clear Contextually that the phrase 'words that are ttta^nf'
here denotes the manner of speech which is really suitable to the
Prophet's wife; a manner of talking, that is h which is honorable
enough, dignified enough to give 'those in whose hearts is sickness'
(i.e. men full of sensual desires) no chance of getting excited lustfully.

r lhc next example throws further illuminating light on the meaning
content of uufruf by contrasting it with the way of doing which is not
ma'raf.

When you have divorced women, and they have reached their
prescribed term, then retain them with mw'rw/, or else release them
with mtfTuf; but do not retain them by force (diraran) so that you
transgress. Whoso does that has wronged his soul [or himself].

'To retain the divorced women with mcfT&f is here contrasted
with 'to retain them by force*, which suggests that 'with tndruf
must mean something like 'in the right way'. The ' right* here would,
in Jahihyah, mean nothing but 'traditionally known (and approved) ' ;
in the Quranic conception, however, the source of Tightness lies not
in tradition, but in the will of God. This is clear from the fact that,
in this passage, 'behaving not in the mdruf way' is declared to be
a case of 'transgression 1 , and 'doing wrong to one's own soul 1 —
expressions that are, as we saw earlier, eommorJy used to describe
precisely the conduct of the Kafirs ,

Incidentally, the passage I have just quoted is a legal provision for
the divorced wife. Now it is another characteristic feature of the word
ma'Tiij that it tends to be used most appropriately in the legislative
portions of the Book, particularly where regulations concerning

* Aba Tsmmim tfamlja/t, I[[, 24.

214

Good and Bad

moral duties in family relations, between husband and wife, parents

and children, or among near kinsfolk, are in question, The following
are some of the examples from Surah II and others.

When you have divorced women, and they have reached the pre-
scribed term, prevent them not from marrying their [new]
husbands:, when they have agreed with each other with nufr&f,
(", 332)

The phrase 'with mtftuf* in this passage would seem to be
equivalent almost to 'through due formalities 1 . Baydawl paraphrases
it thus: 'in compliance with the legal provision and according to
what is acknowledged by the law of humanity 1 .

Mothers shall suckle their children for the period of two whole
years, provided they desire to complete the suckling, [During that
period] the father of the child must fulfil the duty of feeding and
clothing them [i.e. the mothers] with thh'twJ. {'honestly* 'respect-
ably' or 'in due form', one might say). {II, 23,3)

But if you prefer to place your children under the care of a wet
nurse, it is no sin {junfifr) for you, provided you pay with meft$f
what you have to give. (11, 233)

O you who believe, it is not lawful (id yakillu) for you to inherit
women against their will, nor to hinder them from remarrying so
as to take back part of what you have given them, unless they
commit a flagrant abomination [i.e. fornication]. Treat them with
w'riif, (IV, 33/19)

Be grateful to Me and to thy parents. . , . But in case they attempt
at inducing thee to associate with Me that which thou hast no
knowledge of [i.e. idols], then obey them not But keep company
with them in this world in a mtfritf way [tntfr&fatt). (XXXI,

Munkar. Mtfr&f stands formally opposed to mtmkar, which, a* we
have seen, literally means 'unknown', 'foreign', and — precisely
because of that — 'disapproved* or 'bad 1 . The Quran exhorts the
Prophet and the believing community again and again, with strong
emphasis, to 'enjoin the via'tuj and forbid the mmkar'. And in the
form of this combination, both terms seem to stand for very general
and comprehensive ideas of '[religiously] good* and '[religiously]
bad', meMif meaning any acts arising from, and in consonance with,
the true belief, and irattthaf any acts that would conflict with God's
CurnmandmcntS.

The Analysis of Majw Concepts

The believers, both mcil and ■women, arc friends one of another.
They enjoin the md'Tuf and forbid the mutikar, and they perform
the prayer -and pay the alms, and thcv obey God and His Apostle,
(IX, 72/71)

It is noteworthy that al-Baydawi writes that the bw'tk/ here means
imdn 'belief ' and fa^ah [ obedience ', while ttmttkar is equivalent Co

hip and ttufafi 'disobedience".

Let then; be one community of you, all inviting men to good
(kkayr) f enjoining the trtit^ruf and forbidding the muttkar* Those
shall be the [ultimate] winners . {HI, 100/104)

You are the best community that has ever been brought forth unto
men. You enjoin the ma c r^f and forbid the munkar, believing in
God. (Ill, 106/110)

Tt is to he noted that in the same passage it is affirmed that the
fdliA people are those who believe in God and the Last Day, and
devote themselves to pious works, 'enjoining the mtfruf and for-
bidding the mutthar'. (v. 110/114)

It is perhaps of more interest to observe that the 'hypocrites ' are
accused of doing the exact reverse of this: they enjoin the Ttutnkar
and forbid the wia'nl/.

The mumjiq, both men and women* are all one; they enjoin the
munkar and forbid the ma'nw/ , . . They have forgotten God, and
He has forgotten them, Verily, the mtttt&jiq arc fSstq people. (IX,

68/67)

Next I shall give a few examples showing the use of the term munksr
disjoined from its usual companion, mtmafiq. The first is of particular
significance because the context in which the word is found is, if not
definitely non-religious, rather of a secular nature in that it has
nothing to do directly with belief and kup. Note that the word here
appears in the form of mtkr (from the same root as munkar); the
meaning remains exactly the same.'

So the two [i.e. Moses (as a legendary figure) and the Mysterious
Man commonly known as Khadir] journeyed on until, when they
met a boy, he [i.e. Khadir] slew him, Moses said, 'What, hast thou
slain a pure [i.e. innocent] soul guilty of no murder? Verily thou
hast done a hideous (nuh) thing. 1 (XVII I, 73/74)

* In just tbus same way, «MVd/can dc replaced hy r urf. And 'vrf and atuhr form a
pair ins', us ma mf fiiiJ namkar go together. I give here ail example from old poetry;
Ahl al'ftKlnm idha al-iul&iahafat * wa-al-''a^f ft al-aqtcdtn via-al-mikr (by Harrin
b. 'Amrb. 'Abd Marvflt, in Aba Tammini, flant^tah. III, 3+) 'Peoflfi of sound judg-
ment are tber, even wh«i uthci people lose their judgment (.lit. when reason gcrs on
a slipE^jy ro*d); thjcy are akn men of 'iirf (powund their friends! «rw5n£ All tribes,
[while Sgiinst their enemies, they sit] men o£nnkr*.

2l6

Good and Had

The next example relates to the conduct of the disbelievers among
the Israelites:

Cursed were those of the children of Israel who became Kafirs , . .
because they disobeyed {tyata) and were always transgressing
( ya'tadwta). They never forbade one another any munkuT that they
used to do. Verily evil was that which they used to do, (V, 82-83/

78-79)

In the passage which I quote next, the word munkar is applied to
the formula of divorce — 'Thou art as my mother*s back* — with
which men in JahilTyah used to divorce their wives.

Those of you who divorce their wives hy the formula of 'mother's
back \ though they [i ,e. wives] are not their mothers — their mothers
being only those who gave them birth — verily, they utter an
abominable thing (mutthar) and a falsehood. (LVIII, i)

That in this, and other places munkar has semantically much in

common with 'abomination' or 'indecency' 19 explicitly shown by
the fact that the word sometimes appears in combination with/aAjfta*
which, as we shall presently see, is the very word for such a concept.

Khajr and Skarr

Probably hhayr represents the nearest Arabic equivalent of the
English 'good*. It is a very comprehensive term, meaning as it does
almost anything that may be considered in any respect valuable,
beneficial, useful, and desirable. And even within the hounds of the
QuT^atiic cuntext, its semantic scope liovtTS both the: field of worldly

affairs and that of religious belief Let me begin with a brief examina-
tion of some examples falling under the former class. The first
relates to the legend of Solomon: one day, it is related., he was so lost
in admiration of bis beautiful horses that he forgot the duty of the
evening prayer; when he came to himself a bitter remorse seized him,
and he uttered the following words :

Verily, 1 have loved the love of good things \khayr) better than the
remembrance of my Lord, undl the sun sank behind the veil,
(XXXVIII, 31/32)

But the most representative use of khayr in the field of worldly
affairs is, without doubt, seen in those very numerous caaes where
the word behaves as a genuine synonym of mil 'wealth 1 .

It is prescribed for you; when death visits any of you, if he leaves
some wealth (khayT), he should bequeath in the wtdruj way unto

his parents and near relatives, (II, 1 76/1 So)

217

The Analysis of Major Concepts

Particularly important is the following passage in which we set the
word khayr actually replaced by mat in tlie end, showing with
utmost clarity that the two terms are interchangeable in contests
of this sort.

Whatever good {kkayr) you expend, it shall he for yourselves, for
in that case you expend only because you seek God's countenance,
and whatever good (khayr) you expend, it shall be repaid you in
full, and you will never be wronged. . . . And whatever good (kiiayr)
you expend, verily, God i3 aware of it. Those who expend their
wealth (smmal, pi, of mat) night and day, secretly and openly,
verily, their reward is with their Lord. {II, 274.-275/272-274)

No less important is the next verse in which the same word khayr
clearly fulfils a double function: it means 'wealth 1 in the first sen-
tence, and, in the second, 'pious work*. It should be observed that
khayr in this sense is, as we shall presently ace, almost synonymous
with sdHh which we discussed earlier.

They will ask thec [Muhammad] concerning what they should
expend [in alms]; say, 'Whatever good (khayt) you expend must
go to patents and kinsmen, orphans, the fltedy, and the wayfarer.
Whatever good (khayr) you do, verily, Gud is aware of it.' (II,

211/215)

Wealth represents the earthly good. Since, In actual fact, there
can be an infinite variety of earthly goods or worldly values, kkayr
proves to be a word of extremely wide application in this field. Wc
shall confine ourselves, however, to the analysis of the semantic
content of khayr in contexts that arc immediately related to religion
and faith.

In this field too, the meaning of khayr is exceedingly wide in scope ,
forj as one might expect, anything religiously valuable or beneficial
to man can he the denotatum of this word. And this shows that the
word is Fully entitled to be considered a 'secondary level' ethical
term.

God's bottnfy;
O God .owner of the Kingdom, , ,, Thou makest whom Thou wilt
rich and powerful, and Thou humblest whom Thou wilt. In Thy
hand is the good [khayr). (Ill, 25/26)

The context itself suggests clearly that the 'good' here denotes the
Limitless bounty of God. Further confirmation of this view is
afforded by w, 66-67/73-74 of the same Surah, where we read:
1 Verily, in God's hand is bounty (fadl). ... He specially favors with

210

Good and Bad
His mercy (rahmah) whom He will, for God is Lord of great bounty

Cod's special favor {Revelation):
Those who disbelieve among the people of the Scripture and the
idol-woishippers love not that there should be sent down upon you
anything good (khayr) from your Lord. But God specially favor*
with His mercy whom He will, for God is Lord of mighty bounty.
(II, 99/n>5)

It shall be said [on the Day of Resurrection] to those who fear [i,e.
the pious believers], 'What has your Lord sent down?' They will
answer, '[He has sent down upon us] good (hhayry (XVI, ja/jo)

He [God] gives the Wisdom unto whom He will, and whoso is
given the Wisdom, has been given much good (khayr). (II,

273/269)

Belief and genuine faith :
O Prophet, say unto the captives who are in your hands, ' If God
knows any good [khayr) in your hearts, He will give you better
than that which has been taken from you, and will forgive you'.

(vni, 71/70)

Potitive effect of the faith;

On the day when one of the signs of thy Lord [i.e. a portent of the
approach of the T.as« Hour] does appear, its belief shall be of no
avail to a soul which did not believe before, nor earned some good
{khayt) hy its faith, (VI, 159/158}

Pious work (sdHhat):
Perform you the prayer steadfastly, and pay the alms, Whatever
good (khayr) you send forward for the sake of your own souls, you

shall find it with God. Verily, God sees everything you do. (II,

104/110)

Be you emulous in good works (khayrat pi.). (V, 53/4S)

Verily, they vied one with another in good works (khayrat), and
called upon Us yearningly, yet with fear, and were humble before
Us. (XXI t 90}

Excellent believer:

[Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob], verily, We made them pure with
genuine sincerity, [that is,] the thought of the [Last] Abode, Thus

219

The Analysis of Major Concepts

in Our sight they were, verily, of the chosen, the good (akhyar,
pi.), (XXXVIII, 4J6-47)

A glance at the examples given will make it ckar that the denotata
of the word kkayr in the field of religious matters fall roughly into
two classes: ore is the 'good', the source of which lies in God, and
the other is the 'good' produced by man. In either case* the basic
cormotatum remains the same: it means something which may
rightly be judged valuable from the specific point of view of the
revealed religion.

Nest we shall turn to those cases where the word kkayr is used in
opposition to something else. The most usual antithesis of khayr is
furnished by short which functions as its direct opposite in any of
its various meanings examined above, whether religious or non-
religious. Thus, to take a typical example, when kkayr is used for
'happiness' or prosperity in worldly life, skarr is used for 'mis-
fortune*.

Man tires not of praying for good (khayr), and if evil (skarr)
touches him, then he becomes disheartened and desperate. But
if we let him taste mercy (rakmaft) after distress (darra') that has
touched him he is sure to say, ' This is my own, I think not that
the [I-iHSit] Hour is imminent,' (XLI, 491-50}

The precise meaning of the pair, khayr— skarr, in verse 49 is
disclosed by another pair that immediately follows it in v. 50, i.e.
rahmah (happiness or good fortune conceived as God's mercy) and
darra' (ill fortune or distress), It will not be out of place to add here
that the Qur'an generally considers happiness and misery in this
present world a kind of trial by means of which God distinguishes
between true believers and Kafirs.

We test you [first] with evi! (skarr) and good (kkayr) as a trial, then
unto Us you shall be brought back. (XXI, 36/35)

The next two examples are of particular significance for our
purpose in a somewhat different respect; apparently, they simply
state that the goodness or badness of a thing has, essentially, nothing
to do with man's loving it or disliking it; that one should always
judge by the ultimate issue to which it leads* Viewed from the
reverse side, however, this would imply that the problem of whether
a thing is khayr or skarr tends to be made dependent on man's
natural subjective reaction to it, that is, whether he likes it or hates it.
In a word, kkayr and skarr stand for 'likes' and "dislikes'.

220

Good and Bad

Prescribed for you is lighting [in God's way], though it may be
hateful to you, It may be, however, that you hate a thing which is
[really] good (kkayr) for you, and that you love a thing which is
bad (skarr) for you. God knows, but yuu know not. (II, 2 12.-213/
216)

Treat them [your wives] well [lit. with ma'ruf]. Even if you hate
them, it may be that you hate a thing wherein God has placed much
gDod {khayr) for you. (IV, 23/iO)

It would be almost superfluous to point out that the basic opposi-
tion of khayr and skarr occurs also in the properly religious field,
denoting, then, pious deed and ktifr, respectively.

Upon that day [i.e. the Day of Judgment] men shall issue forth in
separate groups so as to witness their own deeds [in this world].
Whoso has done the weight of an atom of good (khayr) shall see
it, and whoso has done the weight of an atom of evil (tkarr)

shall see it. (XCIX, 0-8)

Sometimes skarr in this sense is replaced by another word Hi'
which we shall examine in the next section.

HSN and 8W

These two roots appear in various forms. We shall in what follows
examine the most important of them.

i, Ifasan* Like kkayr, this word has a very wide range of applica-
tion. It is an adjective which may be applied to almost anything
that is felt to be 'pleasing', 'satisfying' 1 , 'beautiful', or 'admirable'.

And, as in the case of khayr, its scope covers both worldly and
religious spheres of human life. A few examples will suffice to show
this.

And of the fruits of the date-palm and grapes, you take therefrom
intoxicating liquor and good (bwart) nourishment. Verily, therein
is a sign for people who have sense. (XVI, 69/67)

Here, it is clear, the word hasan is roughly equivalent to 'delicious 3
or ' agreeable to the taste'. In the next example, the same word refers
to something entirely different*

Her Lord received her [Mary, mother of Jesus] with a good
(hasan) reception and made her grow up with a goodly (Jiasan)
growth, (III, 33/37}

It should be noted that in this verse, hasan appears twice in succession.
In the first case it means the 'gracious* treatment Mary received at

221

Tht Anafy$i$ iff Major C<mt4ptt

the hind:? of God; while in thesLx^rui, it suggests that she grew up in
good health to be a graceful woman.

The next passage applies the word to the ideal type of relation,
between men in social intercourse, More concretely, it enjoins upon
men the duty of speaking always peaceably so as to maintain and
promote peaceful relations among themselves.

Tell My servant?, to speak words that are mote peaceable {ahsttn,
comparative). For verily, Satan is trying to cause discord among
them. Verily, Satan is ever for man a manifest enemy. {XVII,

Hasan can also be used in the sense of 'profitable' or 'lucrative'
in the domain of business and commerce. The Quran uses it figur-
atively in reference to pious sets. Dy doing a pious deed, man lends a

very advantageous loan to God,

Who ts there that will lend a good (htmtt) loan to God, so that Me
may increase it fur him manifold? (IT, 246/245)

Verily, those who give in charity, whether men or women, and
thus have lent a good loan to God, it hhall he multiplied for them,
and they shall receive a generous hire, (LVII, 17/18)

God's promise ie called a 'hastm promise' because it promises
much good to men provided they fulfil its conditions faithfully.

O my people, has not your Lord promised you a good [ftataii]

promise? (XX, 89/86)

Is he whom We have promised a good (kasatt) promise [meaning
the Garden of Heaven] , , . like him to whom We have given the
momentary enjoyment of the life of the world, then on the day of
Resurrection he shall be of those arraigned? (XXVI IT, 6i)

Various other things arc called [wtstm in the Qur'an, but this much
seems to suffice for our present purpose. The job of denoting i 'good
work' in the sense of a 'pious' deed within the semantic boundary
of the root jrJSrV is chiefly assigned to the feminine form of hasan,
to which we shall now turn.

2. Hasasah. This word is the feminine form of the adjective hasan
which we have just dealt with. The feminine form is used as a
substantive, and means anything having the quality designated by
the adjective. Let us remark at the outset that the word in this sense
is, at least in certain contexts, almost perfectly synonymous with
khuyr which we discussed above, in both of its fields of application,

222

Good and Bad

worldly and religious. This point is admirably brought out in the
following example :

Some there are who say, ' Our Lord, give us in this world hasanah
and in the Hereafter, too, kasanak, and guard us from the chastise-
ment of the Fire,' (II, 107/201)

Ifatanah in this quotation clearly means happiness, prosperity,
good luck. The word in this sense occurs constantly in the QuPan in
close combination witb its antithesis sayyFah. Mere I give only two
examples.

If good (hasatmh} befall them, they say, 'This is from God', but
if evil befall them, they say, 'This is from thee [Muhammad],'
Say, 'Everything comes from God,' (IV* 80/78)

if good (kasaaali) touch you [Muslims!, it is disagreeable to them
[i.e. the KSfirt], but if evil [sayyi'ah) befall you, they rejoice
therein. {Ill, 116/120)

Both hasanah and sayyi'ak sometimes appear in the plural form,
thus:

We have tried them with good things (hatittidt, pi.) and evil things
{sayyj'at, pi.) that haply they might return. (Vll, 167/168)

We might do well to recall in this connection what was said above
concerning the divine 'trial' of men by hkayr and tkarr.

Just as khayt which, as we saw, is in itself an exceedingly eompr e-
hensive word, can be used in the narrow, strictly religious sense of
'pious work', hmanah may be so used with almost exactly the same
meaning.

Verily, God will not treat anyone unjusdy even the weight of an
ant, and if it is a good work (hasanah), He will double it, and will
give an immense rewards (IV, 44/40)

This is particularly the case when the word is used in explicit

contrast to sttyyfah. The meaning of the latter word then changes
from evil in general to ungodliness. Examples abound.

Whoso brings a good work [hosoaait) [on the Day of Judgment]
shall be safe from terror that day. But whoso brings an evil deed
{sayyfah), such shall have their faces thrust into the Fire. (XXVTI,
01-93/89-90}

In place of the phrase *to bring a good work', the causative verb
ahsana (from the same root) may be used. This verb itself will be
analyzed in detail in the following section. Here I am only concerned

233

The Anaiytis of Major Concepts

to show that the phrase ' he who ahsttna * is equivalent to 'he who does
a fmanaJt ', and that thii implicit husana/t may further be contrasted
explicitly with sayyt'ah.

For those who do good (ahusn&j pi.) shall be the best reward. . . .
Those shall be the inhabitants of Paradise, to dwell therein for
ever. But for those who commit evil deeds (sayyt'at), the recom-
pense of each evil deed (luvyr'aA) shall be the like thereof. (X,
27-28/26-27)

3. Ahsana. The verb akssna (inf. ■iksaii) is one of the key ethical
terms in. the Qur'an, Most generally it means 'to do good 1 , but in the
actual Quranic usage this word is applied mainly to two particular
classes of 'goodness'! profound piety towards God and all human
deeds that originate in it, and acts motivated by the spirit of hilm.

Let us examine first those cases where ihsan is roughly equivalent
to piety and devotion, or to use a mote characteristic expression, 'the
fear of God'.

Verily, whoso feats God {yatt&qi, from [tttjwtfy and is patient
(}wf bir) — surely God wastes not the wage of those who do good
(mtthsinin, part. pL). (XII, 00)

It should be noted that here the semantic content of ihsan is defined
in terms of 'fear of God' and 'patience 1 , both of which, as we saw
in Chapter X d are among the most characteristic features of the.
'believer*. In the next example, the same word muktin (part, of
ahscma) is equated with fnuttayt 'godfearing', wtiile its concrete
denotatum is explicitly described as V&riouS acts of pious devotion.

Verily, the godfearing' (muttaqtn, pi.) arc now [i.e. after Resurrec-
tion] in. gardens and springs, raking whatever their Lord ha3 given
them. Verily, they were before [i.e. in the present world] muhsimn:
but little of the night they slept, at the dawn they would asts forgive-
ness, and in their wealth even the beggar and the outcast had a
share. (LI, 15-19)

That ahsana in contexts of this sort is practically synonymous with
' doing the fdiihat' will be made clearer from examples that follow.

The ntuhsinin who perform the prayer steadfastly, and give alms,
and have unswerving faith in the Hereafter. Those are upon the
guidance from their Lord; those are sure to prosper. (XXXI,

Verily, those who believe and do good works (saiih5t)—\tri\y, Wc
waste not the wage of him who docs good works {ahsana '"amalan,

lit, 'is good as to deed"). (XVIII, 29/30)

Good and Bad

We might add that Abraham who, in complete obedience to God's
command, attempted to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac, is called, in
reference to this very act, a muftsiit,

O Abraham, thou hast already carried out the dream. Verily,
thus do We recompense the mahsimn. This is indeed a manifest
trial. (XXXVII, 104-106)

Such being the case, it is hardly surprising that mufain should some-
times be opposed to kdfir or some of its semantic equivalents,

So God rewards them for these [pious] words with gardens beneath
which rivers flow, to dwell therein forever. That is the reward of
the rmtksintn. But those who disbelieve (kafaru) and cry lies to
Our signs, they shall be the inhabitants of Hell. (V, $8/85-86)

This is a Scripture confirming, in the Arabic language, to warn
those who do wrong (?alamH) and bring good tidings to the
muhsimn. (XLVI, 11/12}

As I have suggested above, ihsan has another important application:

it may denote loving deeds towards others, that is, to be more
precise, deeds motivated by the fundamental attitude of Mm. That
fytw is the most immediate manifestation of the spirit of hiim will be
clearly perceived in the following example:

A Paradise as wide as the heavens and the earth is prepared for
those who fear [God], the godfearing who expend [in alms] in
prosperity and adversity, and repress their rage, and pardon
men, for God loves the Tnuhsinin. (Ill, j 27-1 28/133-134.)

He who is always willing to help the poor, is slow to anger, forbears
from retaliating, and forgives offences — this is the very embodiment
of the virtue of hilm as we saw in Chapter IV. The next verse is
another example showing the close connection between Juan and
kitm. in other words, the thought expressed by the verse is just the
«ontrary of the spirit of Jahiltyah.

TIlOu [Muhammad] wilt not cease to discover treachery [i.e. the
act of breaking the compact] from them [the children of Israel],
save a few of them. But pardon them, for God loves the muhsimn.
(V. 16/13)

The Qur'ah never wearies of emphasizing the duty of showing
kindness to parents, if only for the reason that L his mother bore bim
with pain and with pain did she give birth to him.' (XLVI, 14/15),
The attitude of filial piety is called by the name of ihsan.

Thy Lord has decreed that you should serve none save Him, and
that you should be kind {ihsan) to parents. If one or both of them

225

Tfi£ Aimtytis of Mtijtir C/mcepti

attain old age with thec, say not ' Ficl' unto them nor chide them,
but speak unto them respectful (kartm) words, and lower unto
them the wing of hurnhleness out of mercy {rabmtah), and say,
1 My J jord, have mercy upon them, just as they raised me up when
I was a small child, 1 (XVIT, 54-35 ^23-24)

The latter half of this passage shows in concrete terms the real nature
of the 'kindness 1 in question.

As is only to be expected in the spiritual climate of the Qur'an
which gives an outstanding emphasis on charity, the meaning of
ibsQti in this sense shows a strong tendency to become contracted
from comprehensive 'loving-kindness' to that of generosity in alms-
giving. Here is a good example which brings cut most deafly the
element of q generosity T in ihsatt by contrasting it with bukttl ' stingi-
ness 1 .

He good (f'feflii) to your parents, and near kindred, and orphans,
and the needy, and the neighbor, whether of kin or not of kin,
the companion at your side, the wayfarer, and what your right
hands possess [i.e. your slaves]. Verily, God loves not those who are
proud and arrogant, who are not only niggardly, but also bid others
be niggardly, and hide that which God has bestowed upon them of
His bounty, (IV, 40-41/36-37)

4. Sayyi'ah, Like the corresponding (tasitnak, tnyyvah is properly
the feminine form of an adjective, used in the Qur'an mostly as a
substantive. The adjective in question is sayyP, which occurs in
Surah XXXV and discloses remarkably well the Quranic meaning
of the toot SW\ It runs as follows :

They swore by God a solemn oath that if a warner [i.e. Prophet]
came to them, they would surely be more rightly guided than any
of the nations. Yet, when a warntr did come to them, they only
became the more averse, behaving the more proudly (istikbdr) in
the land, and plotting more evil But the evil (sayyi*) plotting
encloses oidy those who make it, (XXXV, 40-41^42-43)

Here it is cleat that the 'evil plotting 1 (al-makr ttl-sayyi*) refers to
all the desperate efforts by which the Kafirs sought to undermine the
monotheistic movement of Muhammad,

Turning now to the feminine form, myyCah, used as a substantive,
we may recall that it was already partly examined in ancarlier section
dealing with fymmah. There we saw that sayyi'ah may denote two
entirely different things: it may, on the one hand, mean an un-
favorable and disagreeable turn of affairs in human life, all adverse

326

Good and Bad

circumstances and ill luck that befall a man; it may, on the other
hand, be used for an 'evil* work a man does against God's will,
tlut is, mu'fiy&h 'disobedience' as it is often called. This is very
important from tile viewpoint of Islamic thought because this
double meaning of sayyi'ak was destined to raise a difficult theological
question in connection with the central tenet of the QadarTyah and
Mu'tazilah.

The MaturTdi theologian, al-Bayyadi, has an interesting thing to
report on this subject. 'The Mu'tazilT al-JuhbaT, he says, 'asserts:
it is an established fact that the word sayyFah is sometimes used
in the sense of "calamity" (fmliyah) and "trial" (jrtf'^A), and some-
times in the sense of "sin" (dhanb) and "disobedience" (trufriyah). It
is also certain that God attributes layyi'ah to Himself in the verse
" Say : everything comes from God ", and that in the folio wing verse He
attributes it to man.: "And every sayyi'-ah that befalls thee comes
from thyself." Obviously something roust be done here to establish
harmony between the two statements SO that they may rot con-
tradict each other. In reality, there is no contradiction because when
tsyyt'ah is attributed to God it is to be understood as lH adversity"
and "misfortune", while the same word means "disobedience"
when it is attributed to man/ 1 *

As we sec, al-Jubbft 1 ! uses cleverly the double meaning of sayyToh
in order to establish that 'disobedience', i.e. kufr cannot conceivably
come from God, for He is essentially God of justice. It goes without
saying that al-Rayyadi himself, being a man of the HaDahtc school,
denies categorically such distinction, Everything, he asserts, comes
from God, man as well as ftjijr,. It hasanak in the Qur'an is to be
taken in a general sense sayyi'ah, too, must always be taken in a
general senRC-

In any case what is certain is that the Qur'an itself uses the word
sayyfah in the sense of 'misfortune' and sometimes in the sense of
'evil deed 1 . Let us examine carefully the latter case.

Most generally, tttyyfak appears to mean the consequences of
kufr. The examples that follow will make this point abundantly clear.

If the evil-doers (aUadhlna xatam& t from xulm = kttfr) n possessed
all the wealth on earth, and the like thereof with it, they would
tansom themselves therewith from the evil (aF, from the same

root as sayyi'ak, used approximately in the first of the two mean-
ings of sayyi'ak as distinguished above) of the chastisement on the
Day of Resurrection. But God will disclose to their eyes what they

K Kama] al-Din A^mad aL-Bayyi»4i : IsliarHi el-Marwrt mtn : ii;irJ! nl-Irnum
(C*iro, 1<W). P< lic-
it See abov*, p. [69,

327

The Analysis of JWd/or Concepts

never expected to see^ there shall appear to them the evils (sayyi'at,
pi.) of that they have earned, and they shall find themselves
surrounded on all sides by that which they used to mock at. , . .
The evil {tayyr'at) of that they have earned will smite them. And
such of these people [i.e. the Meccan Kafirs] as do wrung (salamu),
the evifs (sayyi'at) of that they have earned will smite them, nor
will they he able to escape this. (XXXIX, 48-49, 52/47 -48, 51)

The next one refers to the Golden. Calf which the people of Mose3
made and worshipped in his absence. So it is evident that the 'evil 1
deeds here spoken of mean, as al-Baydawi notes, nothing other than
the works of kufr and mtfasi 'disobedience' to which they gave way.

Verily, those who took [to themselves] the Calf, wrath shall come
upon them from their Lord and abasement [even] in the life of this
present world, for such is the reward We confer upon those who
forge (muftarin, from iftira J ), Those, however, who have done evil
deeds ($oyyi'5t)i but repent thereafter and have faith {amanu},
verily thy Lord thereafter is Forgiving and Merciful, (VII,
151-152/152.-153)

It is significant that tayy^ah is sometimes opposed to 0ihah
which I examined at the outset of this chapter. An example showing
this relation between ssyyi'ak and sdlihak was also given there. Here
is one more telling example:

As for those who believe (<i)»Mittj} and do good works fsalihiit, pL),
We. shall remit them their inyyTet and shall recompense them the
best of what they used to do. (XXIX, 6/7)

The expression here translated 'remit {kaffard) the sayyi'af occurs
in another very important passage, which happens to be part of the
prayer of the believers in SQrah III.

Our Lord, We heard a caller calling unto faith, 'Believe in your
Lord 1* And we believed. Our Ixjrd, forgive us our sins {dktmub,
pL of dhanh) and remit [kaffir) from us our evil deeds (sayyrat),
(III, 101/103)

The commentators usually make a distinction between dkttnub and
sayyrat by saying that the former denotes kaba'ir (lit. 'big ones',
that is, great or grave sins), while the latter is equivalent to sagha'ir
(lit 'small ones.'). And this view seems to be fully confirmed by
another passage:

If you avoid great sins (kaba'ir) that are formally forbidden you
We will remit from you your evil deeds (jayvPat) and make you
enter Paradise with a noble entrance. (IV, 35/31)

228

(rood and Bad

No one will deny that this passage recognizes a very serious difference
in degree, and even in kind, between 'big' sins and 'small* ones. In
reality, however, this distinction stands on a very precarious foothold,
for, after all, there is a real uncertainty as to what is actually meant
by 'big* sins. One thing would seem certain. Since, a little latex on
in the same Sflrah, we find an explicit statement that, 'God forgives
not that aught should be associated with Him, but He forgives
anything short of that to whomsoever He will. He who associates
aught with God ha3 surely forged (rftard) a great sin (iikm) ' (IV,
51/418), it would appear that we Could justly regard shirk 'associating*
as constituting the greatest of all unpardonable sins. Rut, although
this is undoubtedly true in this particular ease, it does not in any
way preclude the other word sayyPah from denoting 'associating 1 .
As a matter of actual fact, we have seen above that the worshipping
of the Golden Calf — this is nothing but 4 flagrant case of 'associating'
— is counted among the sayyPdt.

In another passage (Surah XVII), after giving a list of deeds that
God has expressly forbidden, the Qur'an pronounces the verdict:
'All this — the evilness of it (sayyi'tthu) is in the sight of your Lord
abhorred* (v. 4.0/3B), The items enumerated there are; (r) the slaying
of one's own children for fear of poverty, (2) fornication, (3)
murder without reason, (4) embezzlement of the legal property of the
orphan, (5) dishonesty in commerce, (6) insolence and arrogance
( vy - 33-39/31-37). Some at least of these are usually counted among
the AofafiV. We might add that in Surah XI, 80/78, sodomy is called
wyyi'ah — the sodomy which, as we saw earlier, is often described in
the very Quran as ' an act which is more abominable in the sight of
God than anything that has ever been committed by any being in the
world. 1

5, Asa'a. This word is a verbal form derived from the toot SW,
Briefly, it describes sayyfah in its dynamic, active aspect; that is, it
wnveysj the idea of 'producing some sayyi'ak \ And, of course, in the
Qur'an, the sctyyVak meant is here an act of kufr, which is, so to
speak, the sayyVak par excellence. This connection is brought out
with explicit clarity in the following example which contrasts 'one
who £KdV with 'one who doe* fSbh 1 .

Whoso does right ('amila sdlih), it is for his own soul, and whoso
does evil (ata^a), it is against it. (XLV, 14/15)

No less significant is the next example in which musF (part, of
tfroPfl) is Contrasted with 'those who believe and do salihat*. More-
over, hihk' is likened to a 'blind 1 man, while the latter is compared

229

The Analysis of Major Concepts

to a 'seeing' man, the commonest metaphors in the Qur'In for the

Kafir and the believer, respectively.

The blind and the seeing man arc not equal, nor those who believe

and do the pious deeds [salihat) and the evildoer (tnusV). (XL,
00/58)

The next one tells us in more concrete terms what the act of
Ota's Consists in. It sees ' evil ' in the act of taktfftib, which is another
piece of evidence that asa'a means 'to act in a kdfir way'.

The ultimate end of those who did evil (asd% pi.) was evil (jk 3 )
in that they cried lies to the signs of God and mucked at them.
(XXX, 9/10)

6. Saw? and Sif. After all 1 have said in the foregoing about various
words derived from the root SW 3 > detailed discussion of these two
remaining forms, important though they are, would only be repeti-
tion. All I want to do in the present context is to sketch some of the
arguable points relating to their meaning and form.

Saw' is one of the infinitives of the verb $&& that we hart seen
above, and is characteristically used as an epithet of the analytic
type (e.g. ' a man of courage 1 ), while sif is the abstract noun from the
same root* As is obvious, they ate twin sisters, extremely similar
not only in form but also in meaning, and in some contexts the
distinction itself becomes highly problematic.

Let us first consider jaw" 1 , and examine a few of its typical uses,
The construction always takes the analytic form to be represented
by the pattern: rajttl al-sav? (or rajut saw', without definite article),
meaning literally L a man of the being-evil 1 , l a man of evil nature or
conduct 1 .

'O Mary [thus say people to Mary who has just given birth to
Jesus before getting married to any man], thou hast indeed
committed a monstrous (Jar?) thing! . . . And yet, thy father was
not a bad man (mrc? naif), not was thy mother a harlot!' (XIX,
28-39/37-38)

Here it is contextually certain that satu i implies nnchasttty or sejrual
licence, h\ a similar way, the people of Sodom are called in Surah XXI,
74i qawm saw' ('people of evil doing ', 'an evil people') on account
of their abominable custom. On a level which is more properly
religious, the same expression qatsm sate? is used in reference to
Noah's folk, the evidence of their cvilncss being, this time, the
tokdhib.

330

Good and Bad

We delivered him [Noah] from the people who cried lies to Our
signs, Verilv, they were an evil people, so We drowned them ail,
(XXI, 77)

The next passage alludes to some of the Bedouin tribes who, on
some excuse or other, tried — and succeeded in the attempt — to
shirk the duty of serving in the Holy War on the occasion of the
Hudaybiyah expedition.

Nay, but you thought that the Apostle and the believers would
never return again to their Families, and that appeared very fine to
your minds. You did think an evil thought ($imtt al-sav? lit ' thought
of cvilncss 1 ) and you were a people of no value (bur, a word mean-
ing 'decayed' or 'corrupt'). {XLVIII, 12)

The reading sans al-saw' is not the only possible one in this and
other similar instances; according to some authorities, the alternative
reading zunn al-xiL is just as permissible. In the opinion of others,
tliere is a definite difference in meaning according to whether one
reads saw* or sis', when both arc possible : the former implies fasad,
' corruption \ while the Latter means darar, 'harm* or 'damage 1 , or
hasmah, 'defeat', and skarr, 'evilness of condition'. 12 All thiSi
however, is in my opinion quite groundless. The distinction between
the two phrases, $aitn sl^ovf and %ann af-riP is merely a matter of
syntax.

The hypocrites, men and women, and the idol-woiahippers, men
and women, who think {zdnmn, part* pi.) of God evil thoughts
(santt al-sav?}— for them shall be an evil turn of fortune (da* =
irat al-tats'), for God is wroth with them and has cursed them.
(XLVIIL6)

Besides the same sann al-saai' (or su% this passage contains another
phrase with aUsau?: ds'irat al-savf lit. 'turn of evilness'. This, too,
allows two alternative readings, saw 1 and ju\ The same applies also
to Surah XXV, 42/40, where we find: 'the city that was rained on
(umfirttt, verb, pass,) by an evil rain (mafar al-saw*)'. The city referred
to is generally said to be Sodom that was utterly destroyed according
to tradition by the rain of stones. In this instance, too, sm" Is read in
two different ways, and some authorities try to establish a distinction
in meaning between them, saying that if it is read sif it means
'damage 1 or 'injury', and if read taw' it means 'destruction'*

Be that as it may it is certain that the infinitive taw" as an epithet is
semantically of very wide application, being capable of denoting
almost anything that can be called sayy?. This is no less true of the
noun ni 5 .

ii See al-Bqstltil, Mu&if oMfcJW. ', ■«!■-

231

Tkt Amlysit of Majw Concepts

Most generally sit means anything felt as being displeasing, dis-
agreeable, or abominable, anything that arouses aversion.

When any one of them is given the news of a girl [i.e. the news
that a girl has been born — referring to the notorious dislike of the
pfe-Islamic Arabs for female children, that went often to the length
of burying alive female babies], his. face grows dark and he burns
with wrath, and he hides himself from his folk because- of the evil
(sS y ) of the news that has come to him, (XVI, 60-61/58-59)

This example describes the subjective aspect of the experience
connected with the name of nS 1 . And this enables us to understand
quite naturally why Hell is So- often Called in the Qur^an an 'evil*
abode (or resort).

The Kafirs — upon them is the curse, and for them is the evil
abode (ji? al-ddi lit. "erilness of the house'). (XIII,. 25)

Examples are found in plenty in the Qur'an, showing that jw'
in this basic sense may be applied to any kind of harm, injury,
affliction, and misfortune. But there is no need here to examine
them in detail. So we shall turn our attention immediately to the
way sw 1 is used in the cthieo-religioua field. The first example I give
is taken from the Chapter of Joseph, The speaker jg Joseph himself,

JMy innocence has at last been proved]. And yet I do not claim to
be perfectly innocent, for the human soul ever incites to evil («f)
save what my Lord has mercy on. (XII, 53)

Here evidently 'evil' means unbridled indulgence in wordly plea-
sures.

The next quotation is given as good evidence to show that jh' m
the religious field is perfectly Synonymous with the above-discussed
S&yyFat,

God is only bou nd to turn towards [i.e. forgive] those who do evil
(*« s ) in ignorance, then quickly turn again [i.e. repent] , . . But
God is not to turn towards those who do evil deeds (sayyfat),
until, when one of them is about to die, he says, ' Now I turn [Le.
repent],' (IV, 31-22/17-18)

Exactly the same kind of sip that is, *evii done in ignorance', is
significantly contrasted in the next example with aslaka (derived
from the same root as jnfift).

Whoso of you does evil (jh 1 ) in ignorance, and turns again there-
after and does right (aslaha), verily, [for him] God is Forgiving
and Merciful, (VI, 5+)

23 3

Cood and Bad

Si? is also used synonymously with sulm al-nafr ' the wronging
of one's own soul* which is, as we saw, a very characteristic Quranic

expression for kufr.

The Kafirs whom the angels seize [i.e. cause to die] while they
are busy wronging themselves. Then [only] will they submit [and
say], 'We were not doing any evil {sv").' Nay, but verily God
blows well of what you were doing. (XVI, 2^-30/27-28)

In the next passage, the referent of it 3 is described in the most
concrete terms. Here we have an instance showing what kind of act
was an 'evil act ' in the Qur'anic view.

Pharaoh said, ' Haman, build for me a tower, so that haply I
may reach the place of ascent, the place of ascent of the heavens,
and look upon the God of Mosca, fur I think him a liar.' In this
way Pharaoh looked upon his evil act (sb' 'amalihi lit. ' evil of his

act') as something good, and thus was debarred from the right way.
(XL, 38-40/36-37)

Fahsha 1 or Fahhha

Fahsha' or fahiskah signifies anything foul and abominable beyond
measure. It is very often used in the Qur'an in conjunction with SW*
which we have just examined,

Follow not the footsteps of Satan; he is a manifest foe to you, He
enjoins upon you naught but nf and faksftf?-. (II, 163—164./
toS-USo)

The commentators have tried to distinguish between siP and fahshcP
in this verse ; much ink has flowed, and a variety of opinions have
been offered, but none of them is sufficiently reliable. All we can
gather from them is that the two words arc roughly synonymous.

She [the wife of the Egyptian Governor] desired him. passionately,
and he [Joseph] would have desired her too, had it not been that
he saw [just then] a proof of his Lord, Thus did Wc turn away
from him $& and fahsha". (XII, 34)

Here it is contcxtually clear that the expression, «j : and fahska',
means fornication. The same reference is made explicit in the next
example.

Draw not near to fornication ; verily, it is a fdkishah; it is evil

{sa'a a verbal form from 5 IF 2 ) as a way, (XVII, 34/32)

Sodomy is also very frequently called fishiihah. Here I give only
one example.

333

The Analysts of Major Concepts

And Lot, when he said to his people [i.e. the inhabitants of Sodom],
' What, do you commit such fshishah as no one in all the world has
ever committed before ydui' (VII, 78/B0)

In Surah XI, 80/78, the 'abomination.' referring to the same evil
habit of Sodom is expressed by sayyf&t, further evidence that
F~IJSH and SW were felt to be roughly synonymous in cases of
this sort.

In another passage concerning the pagan custom of marrying the:
wife of one's own father after his death (or divorce), a word meaning
the utmo&t degree of hatred, maqt, is used in conjunction with
faMshah.

Marry not women your fathers married, except bygone cases, for
it is surely abomination, (fafiiskctk), a hateful thing (magi), and an
evil way {siFa sabtltm lit, ' is evil as 4 way '), (IV, 26/23)

The word wwkar which we have considered above also occurs

together with fahbhah,

O believers., follow not the footsteps of Satan, for upon those who
follow the footsteps of Satan, verily, he enjoins/atoM" and munkar,
{XXIV, si)

Here we see the occurrence of fahsha' explicitly attributed to
Satan's instigation. Surah II, 164/160, quoted at the Outset of this
section is another example. Indeed, it is characteristic of fahisfiah
and fahika' that they appear in the Quran, very often associated with
Satan's name,

Satan promises you poverty and enjoins upon you fahska 1 ', while
God promises yum forgiveness from Himself and bounty. (II,

271/268)

We have: made the Satans patrons of those who believe not. And
whenever they commit a fakiskgk, they say, 'We found our
fathers practicing it, and God bade us do it* Say, ' God does not
enjoin upon, yon fahshiF. Do you say against God that which
you know not?' (VII, 16-27/27-28)

On the contrary, God forbids strictly ail JahsftiP and enjoins justice
and kindness:

Verily, God enjoins justice (W4) and kindness (ihsatt) and giving
to kinsfolk, and forbids fahskif and mtinkar and insolence (bagky).
(XVI, 02/90}

234

Good end B&i

Tayyib and Khablth

T#yy& i* an adjective, the roost basic semantic function of which is
to denote any quality that strikes the sense — the senses of taste and
odor, in particular — aa very delightful, pleasant, and sweet, As would
be expected, it is most frequently used to qualify food, water,
perfume, and the like. Beyond this proper field of application, it
may also be applied to various other things; thus in the Qu^an we
find such combinations as: rij fayyibah ! a favorable wind* that
carries a ship smoothly on the sea, as opposed to rlh c &fifaft 'a
stormy wind' (X, 23/22), balad pxyyib 'a land of good and fertile
soil' (VII, 56/58), masSMn Jayyibah 'delightful dwellings', speaking
of the final resort of the believing men and women in Gardens of
Eden (IX, 73/72), etc.

It is noteworthy that in the case of food, which, as everybody
knows, constitutes an important hem among those things that tend
to be surrounded by all sorts of taboos, the Qur'an brings in the
specific idea of 'sanctifkatiou*, by associating fayyib with fyaldl
which means 'lawful' in the sense of 'free from all taboo'. So in this
particular case, fayyib becomes almost a synonym of haial which we
shall examine in the nest section,

They will ask thee [Muhammad] what is made lawful {uftitla
verb, pass, meaning 'to be made haial') for them. Answer, 'Lawful
to you are all good things {{-nyyibat., noun, pi,)/ (V, 6/4}

Eat of what God has provided you a3 lawful {haial) and good
iftgyfy. tj t 90/88)

The word fayyib may also — though not so frequently— be used
in the properly cthico-rcligious sense. Here is a good example ;

Gardens of Eden they shall enter, beneath which rivers flow. . . .
Thus God recompenses those who fear (muttaqm), whom the
angels seize [i.e. cause to die] while they are good {fayyibinpl.).
They [i.e. the angels] say, * Peace be upon you J Enter Paradise
because of what you used to do,* (XVI, 33-34/31-3*)

It is evident that in this context t&yyib replaces muttaqt * godfear-
ing*. Besides, it is opposed to 'those who wrong themselves', (in
verse 30/28) an expression which, as we know, means Kafirs.

f&yyib in the phrase al-kalim al^tayyib, 'the good speech 1 ', that
occurs in Surah XXXV, ir/io, must be of a similar nature, It is
generally explained as denoting the formula of tattihid; 'There is
no god but God.' At any rate, it is certain that fayyib in this expression
means 'religiously good' or 'pious", for the phrase itself appears in

335

Tht Antdysit of Major Concepts

this verse cloaely combined with al- c amal ai-siilih. 'pious deed 1 . The
vera* runs as follows :

Unto Him ascend good ifoyyib) words, and the good (salth) deed
He exalts. (XXXV, ufio)

The exact contrary of ftiyyfb is khabith. Here it will be unnecessary
to examine cases in which this word is applied to ordinary things and
events. All we have to do is to consider briefly some of the typical
examples showing its us* in the ethico-religioua domain. Let us
begin with one that concerns the problem of the 'sanctificatLon' of
food referred to above.

He [the Prophet] makes lawful {yukiUii) [in the name of God] for
them all good things {fayyi&M} and makes unlawful {yuharrimu)
for diem the evil things {khabdHtlt, noun, pi.), (VII, 156/157)

It is to be noted that the pair fayyib — khabilh is very significantly

made to correspond with another pair halal — haram. As we shall see
the latter pair is based on the idea of ritual 'cleanness' properly
belonging to the domain of taboo-thinking.

In the next passage, fayyib — khabith corresponds to the opposition
of the believers and the Kafirs.

Those who disbelieve will be gathered into Gehenna, that God
may distinguish the wicked (hha&tth) from the good [fayyib), and
put tbe wicked one upon another, and, heaping them up all
together, put them into Gehenna. (VI J I, 37-38/36-37)

Bad women (kkabftkai) [are fit to be mated] with bad men
(khabTtftitt), and bad men with bad women. Good women {tayyibat)
[are fit to be mated] with good men (fayyibin), and good men with
good women. (XXI V r 26)

In the next example, khabfth is applied to the abominable custom

of the people of Sodom, who are themselves described as a people of
soar' andfasiq. All these elements combined, serve to bring out with
utmost clarity the concrete meaning content of the word khahitky*

Unto Lot We gave judgment and knowledge, and We delivered
him from the city that used to do abominations {khabdHth, pi.).

Verily,, they were an evil people {qswm souf 1 ); [they were] all

jasiqin, (XXI, 7+)

13 As an example of its usafLDC in Jahillyati as an. ethical term, we may give the
fcllnwhrtjf vtrtfr of ^Antflfsh (Dfanfii t p. da-, v. 7); YtfitHbta tawtS biral-iaaidJ um-
inaamS • fi'diuham bi-al-bubth asxad minjitdi 'They fs.e. my tnticimcnj revile my
ouIot saying that it i) Wwfc. To *sy the truth, the wicked thirty they It* d«ig is
cnucli (note black than my skin,'

Good and Bad

Harem and Halal

With this pair of words we step into the world of taboo<binking (

Harem and halal belong to a very old layer of language. In fact, they
go back to the old Semitic idea of ritual cleanness. Speaking more
strictly, karam is the tabou, while halal denotes simply anything that
is not held under the taboo, anything that ' has been set free' from it.
Haram is applied to things,, places, persons, and actions; and every-
thing that is so designated is definitely separated from the world of
the profane and is raised to a peculiar level of being, that of the
'sacred 1, in the twofold sense of holiness and pollution; it is, at any
event, something unapproachable, untouchable.

Thus to give a typical example, drinking wine and the washing of
his head were haram to a pre- Islamic Arab who had made a vow to
take a bloody vengeance on the murderer of one of his near relatives.
And the taboo continued as long as he was under the vow. The
situation is made clear admirably well by the following verse of
Ta'abbafah Sharran, 14 which he said after he executed his vengeance
upon the murderer of his maternal uncle :

Hailati al-khamr wa-kanat haram *
wa-M-ltfy ma alammat takilh

Long was wine haram to me, but now it is halal. Hard was, indeed,
the toil that made it at last halal to me.

It is highly instructive to see that in the law-books by later jurists,
haram is generally defined in a formal way as ' an action punishable
by law 1 or — which amounts to the same thing — u anything absolutely
forbidden '. The Quranic use of the word seems to represent an
intermediate stage in the process of development from the original
taboo idea to this legal concept. This incorporation of a pagan idea
into Islam was made possible by the introduction of God's free
decision, With absolute freedom Cod forbids anything and removes
the ban from anything; and anything He has forbidden will be
henceforward haram, and the contrary halal. Thus age-old ideas of
haram and halal have become most intimately connected with God
as immediate expressions of His Will. This direct consequential
connection between God's act of forbidding a thing and the thing's
being a haram is well brought out in the following passage.

We [God] covenanted with you [children of Israel], 'You shall not
shed your blood [i.e. you shall not kill one another], and you shall
not drive yourselves [i.e. one another] out of home.' . . . But now

!* Abu Temrnam, Diman ol-llamasah s with cosun. of il-Khatib al-Tihrisi,
M. A. Azzani, cd. {Cairo, 1955), I, %i.

237

The Analysis of Major Concepts

you arc killing' one another, and driving a party of you out of home
, ..when their expulsion was made harem to you, (II, 78-79/
34-85)

It is natural that, with the advent of a new Prophet, as a new
mouthpiece of the divine Will, there should occur considerable
changes in the existent system of 'lawful' and 'unlawful'. Thus
Jesus in the Quran declares among other things:

I will surely make field! {uhilfa, verb,) to you some of the things
that were before hat dm (hutrima, verb, pass.) to you. (Ill, 44/50)

In like manner, now that Islam hag come, -all the taboo-laws of
Israel, the Qur'an declares, are completely superseded by the new —
and of course, better— enactments. Thus, according to the Qur' J an,
the Jewish food-taboos, to take the most conspicuous instance, were
originally instituted as a punishment for their insolence (SOrah VI,
147/146). As to the numerous taboos of paganism, they are mere
'forgery' if tire? against God (v. 145/144). But instead of abolishing
food-restrictions altogether the Qur'an draws up a modified list of
taboos, and proclaims them in the name of God.

These only He has forbidden (karrama) you: what is dead [i.e.
the meat of an animal that has died of itself, not slaughtered]., and
blood [shed], and the fiesh of swine, and whatsoever has been
consecrated to other than God. (II, 168/173)

Made lawful (ufrilta) to you is the game of the sea and to eat
thereof, a provision for you and for the seafarers. But forbidden
(hurrime) to you is the game of the land so long you arc in tbe
state t£haram [i.e. on the pilgrimage]. (V, 97/96)

It should be observed that those who perform the pilgrimage them-
selves, after they have JsW aside their 'secular' clothes and put on a
'sacred 1 garment, art definitely in the state of taboo; they should
not cut their hair or pare their nails, and sexual intercourse is a
strict prohibition.

It is interesting to note that the Qur'an sometimes uses this taboo
vocabulary on a much higher level, in matters that concern more
directly the central tenets of Islam. It creates, as it were, a new moral
and spiritual conception of taboo, and gives an ethics! content to the
primitive idea of haram f by placing 'under taboo' various manifesta-
tions of kufr,

fiay, 'My I^ord has only tabooed {harrama) abominable deeds
fjeteehisfijt, whether outwardly visible or concealed within, and
sirt (ithm\ and wrongful insolence (baght), and that you associate

238

Good and Bad

(tuskriku) with God that for which He sent down no warrant [i.e.
idols], and that you say concerning God that which you know not
[i.e. the sin of iftira']. (VII, 31/33)

There is in Arabic another word for 'a tabooed thing' (haram), of
which the Qur'an furnishes a few examples: suht {or iukut). Speaking
of the Jews who say: 'We believe', though in fact they have adopted

kufr, God addresses Muljammad and says;

Thus seest many of them vying with one another in sin (itkm) and

disobedience ^udw&n), and how they devour the tabooed thing
(suht): Verily, evil is the thing they have been doing, (V, 67/62)

And in the same Sftrah, v, 46/43, the same Jews arc called akkaluna
lii-sttht ''voracious eaters of the tabooed thing 1 . As tn what is exactly
meant by the 'tabooed thing' here, nothing certain can he said,
though it is highly probable that it refers to usury. We know that the
prohibition of lending money at interest was directed primarily
against the Jews,^ 5 The following quotation from the Qur'an will
confirm thi& view.

For the wrong-doing {xubtt) of the Jews, We have put under taboo
(herramaa) certain good things (tayyibet) that were before per-
mitted to them. This has occurred also for their debarring many
men from the way of God, and for their taking usury in disregard
of the strict prohibition [by Cod]. (IV, 158-159/ 160- 161)

Concerning hotel there is semamicaUy very little to say. It denotes
anything that is not 'taboo*, or rather, anything from which the ban
has been removed. A few examples may suffice.

O men, eat of what is in the earth, things lawful (ftfl&ji), good
{fayyib) [note again the combination, fatfai — fayytb], and follow
not the footsteps of Satan. (II, 163/168)

In the same passage the thought is expressed again in a somewhat
different way: this time, it is the word fayyib&t that appears in place
of the combination hotel— tayyib:

O believers, eat of the good things {toyyib&t) wherewith We have
provided you t and thank God, if it is Him that you worship. (II,

167/173}

All food was lawful {hiU=kalM) to the children of Israel save what
Israel made unlawful {karrama 'tabooed") to himself, before the
Law was revealed. (HI, 87/93)

"SitW, Mtmtgwnery Watt, Muhammad at Medina (Oxford, r<jj6), pp, 2^6-597.

339

The Amalyiit of Major Concept*

The next example concerns the relation between husband and his
divorced wife. It is contcxtually implied that violation of a taboo
constitutes a 'sin.' which is called juitdft. This latter word will come:
up for consideration in the next section.

If he [i.e. the husband] divorces her [the third time, that is, finally],
she shall not be heilal (tehillu, verb) to him thereafter, until she
marries another husband. Then, if he [the new husband] divorces
her, then it is no sin (jttnSh) for them to come together again, (II,
230)

As I have suggested before, whenever a taboo is placed upon a
thing, that thing becomes raised above the level of ordinary existence:
it becomes ( -sacred' in the original double meaning of purity and
pollution; it is 'untouchable*. This latter aspect of tabooed things
seems to be expressed in the Qur'an by the word ftp, which is an
exceedingly powerful word with the basic meaning of 'filthiness' or
'uncleanncss*. It suggests a feeling of intense physical repulsion.

The fundamental semantic connection between fturSttt and rijt
will be best perceived in. the following vctsc, which gives 3 list of
tabooed food for the Muslims. Here the ' filthiness ' is given explicitly
as the reason for the prohibition of the flesh of swine,

Say, *I find in what has been revealed to me naught tabooed except
what a dead [of itself, i.e. not slaughtered], and blood outpoured,
and the flesh of swine — for that is a rijs — and all JJjg-thiugs that
have been consecrated to other than God.' (VI, 146/14.5)

In another passage, we find wine, maysir (a form of gambling
practiced by means of arrows), idols, and divining-arrows strictly
prohibited as being 'unclean '.

O believers* wine and m^str-gambling, idols and divining-arrows
are all rijs coming from Satan's work. So avoid them that haply
you may prosper, (V, 92/90)

Wc should further compare this passage with Surah II, 216/219,
where wine and maysir are condemned as involving great 'sin'
{itJitn 1 },

They will ask thee [Muhammad] about wine and maysir. Say,
' In both of them there is great sin and also some uses for men, but
their sin is greater than their usefulness.'

In another place idols are called rijs.

Shun the abomination (rijs) of idols, (XXTI, 3T/30)

2+0

CcW and Bad

And this is extended to the 'disease 1 " which is in. the hearts of the
Kafirs,

As for those in whose hearts is disease, it [i.e. Revelation] only
serves to add rijs to their rijs, and they all die Kafirs, (IX, 126/125)

And finally, the Kafirs themselves are called rijt.

Turn aside from them, for they are unclean (riji), and their ulti-
mate abode is Gehenna as the reward for what they have earned.
(1X^6/05)

I should like to end this section by drawing attention to another
word, najas, which is almost an exact synonym of rijt. The only
semantic difference between the two is, according to some Arab
philologists, that rijt is used mostly in reference to things that are
'filthy by nature', while itajas nwans mostly things that are 'filthy
according to Reason or Law.' 16

The word najas is used in the Qur'an in reference to the idol-
worshippers, who should not be allowed to come near the Holy
ikarsm) Mosque, because *they are unclean'.

O believers, the polytheists (miuhrikfm, lit. 'those who associate 1 )
are naught but mjw. So let them not come near the Holy Mosque

after this very year. (IX, 28)

It is related that 'Umar, who was to become the second Khalifah,
once wished to read the manuscript of a certain Surah which his
sister FStitnah was reading with her husband. (This occurred a little
before £ Umar became a Muslim), Fatimah, who was already a devout
believer at that time, refused to hand the sheet to her brother and said,
'Brother, you are unclean (najis, adj,), because of your polytheism
(shirk). Only the clean (fakir, meaning 'ritually clean *) may touch it.'
Thereupon, we are told, 'Umax rose and washed himself clean, and
then only she gave him the sheet. 17 This anecdote reveals better
than anything else the nature of the taboo-conscioti$nes$ in which
these notions of 'cleanness' and *uncleanness" originate and to
which they properly belong.

Sins

In this last section we shall deal with the key terms of the secondary
level of discourse, whose function consists in classifying the reli-
giously evil acts that we have been considering as a violation of the
moral and divine law, and consequently, as something punishable
by a heavy penalty in both this world and the world to come.

1* iT-Ru*tonI, Mufitt al-MuHif, I, 755, quoting from flJ-KiiflJ)M(,
« lha Is^ftq, J, ««,

24I

The Arwtlydi of Major Concepts

i. Bhanh. The Qur'an applies this word most frequently to heinous
sin? committed against God. Examples -will beat explain this point.

Tahdhib is a dhanb:

They shall be fuel for the Fire, like Pharaoh's people, and those
before them ; they cried, lies to Our signs, and God seized them for
their sins {dkwiub, p1 r ), (TIT T 9/11)

As we know very well, tsMhlb * crying lies to God's signs' is the most
typical manifestation of fotfr \ as a matter of fact this latter word re-
places the former in Surah VIII, 54/52, all other elements remaining
■almost exactly the same.

Like Pharaoh's people, and those before them; they disbelieved
{knfatu) in God's signs, and God seized them, for their sins
{dhi/nub).

Kufr is a dhanb:

God seized them for their sins {dhm&b). . . . That was because
their Apusties brought them clear signs, but they disbelieved
{kafaru), so God seized them. (XL, 22-33/21-33)

They [i.e. the Kafirs in Gehenna] shall say, ' If only we had listened
to [our Apostle] or had sense, we would not have become the fellows
of the Blaze!' Thus they confess their sin,. (LXV1J, io-it)

In this passage the word kufr itself does not appear, but the reference
is clear. In the following, istikbilr, 'becoming big with pride', which
we considered earlier in detail, take* the place of hufr t and is accused
of being a dhanb:

And Korah, Pharaoh, and Hainan! Moses came unto them with
clear signs, but they grew proud {tstakbaru) in the land. Yet they
could not win the race. So We seized each one for bis sin (dhanb}.

(XXIX, 38-39/39-40)

The intimate connection between kufr and dhanb is shown also
by the fact that the latter is regarded as entailing the punishment of
the Fire in Gehenna.

God looks on His servants [i.e. believers] who say, ' Our Lord, we
believe. Forgive Thou our sins (dhitnub) and keep us from the
chastisement of the Fire.' (Ill, 13-14/15-16)

Dhanb comprises /d/mAa/j and zuhn:

God loves the good-doers {muhsimn from ahwtttt) who, when they
commit a fahitkah or wrong {xalamu} themselves {zulm alttaff),
remember God and ask forgiveness for their sins (dhuniih) — and

242

Gt>ad and Sad

who forgives airs save God?— and persevere not knowingly in
what they did. (Ill, 138-129/134^35)

Dftanb aifastg people;

If they turn away [from God's signs], then know that God wishes
to smite them for a sin of theirs. Verily, many men are fasiq.
(V, 54/40.)

Dhatib and sayyi'ah:

Our Lord, we heard a caller calling unto faith, 'Believe in your
Iflrd!' And we believed. Our Lord, forgive us our sins {dhwrtub')
and remit from us our evil deeds {&ayyi*at\ (If 1, 191/10.3)

According to al-BaydlwT, the distinction between dhuttuh and
sayyi'at is that the former denotes kaM'ir 'great sins' while the latter
denotes sagha'ir 'small sins'. This interpretation fits in admirably
with what is suggested by another important passage (IV, 35/31)
which 1 have already quoted. There we saw God Himself declaring
emphatically. ' If you avoid kabtFir which are forbidden you, We
will remit from you and your evil deeds/ But it is probable that this
interpretation was first suggested to the minds of the commentators
by this latter passage itself,

Dhanb and Kheii'ah :
Th&Uj woman, ask forgiveness of thy sin {dhanb); verily, thou art
of the sinners (kliafi : ln, part. pi,). (XII, nj)

This is said by the Egyptian Governor to his wife who attempted,
and failed, to seduoe Joseph from the right path. It is to be noted
that here those who commit this kind of dhanb are called kkdff'tn
(lit, those who Commit kkatVah"). This seems to suggest that dhanb
and khafi'ah are roughly Synonymous. The word kha{,Vah will be
discussed later.

2. Ithm. Concerning the basic meaning of this word different opinions
have been offered by different scholars. Muhi} al-Muhlf, for instance,
defines it as a violation of hartttn, that is, doing what is not lawful.
The commentator al-Baydlwl says: ithm is a dhanb that merits
punishment (comm, on XTJX, 12). According to others ithm is an
unlawful deed committed intentionally, while dhanb can signify
both what is intentional and what is unintentional. The diversity of
opinion gives evidence that a precise definition of this word is almost
impossible, its meaning being extremely vague and elusive beyond a
certain limit. So we cannot hope to do better than examine this word
at work in contextual situations,

143

The Analyst* of Major Concepts

The first point to note regarding the actual us* of the word in the
Qur'an is. that it occurs remarkably often in the legislative portions
of the Book. Thus, for instance, concerning the right way to take in
commercial dealings on credit, it is said;

Conceal not the testimony, for whoso conceals it, verily his heart is
sinful (atkim, part,). (II, 183)

The next example concerns the legal regulation on the making of
a testament.

Prescribed for you, when any of you is about to die, leaving behind
wealth, he is to make testament. . . .

Whoso alters it after he has heard it, the sin fitftm) thereof is only
upon those vi/ho alter it. . . . But in ease he fears from the testator
some declining (jatiaf, meaning 'declining or deviating" from the
right course) or sin fitkm, meaning here the wrong intention to
deviate from the right course), and so makes up the matter between
the parties, then it shall he no sin (ithm) fox him [to alter the will
he has heard], (II, 177-178/180-183)

In a similar way, in a passage dealing with the qualifications of
persons permitted to attend bequeathing as legal witnesses, ithwt
is declared to consist in their not bearing testimony equitably. The
following is the formula of oath by which the witnesses should
swear never to act unjusdy.

We will not sell it for a price, even though it be on behalf of a near
kinsman, nor will we hide the testimony of C od, for then we would
surely be of the sinful (dthitmn, part, pi.). (V, 1O5/1&6)

In the next example the act of bringing a false accusation against
one's own wife for the purpose of taking back the sum of money
that one has given her before, is said to constitute an 'open ithm '.

If you wish to exchange a wife for another, and you have given unto
one of them [i.e. the one you are going to divorce] a large sum of
money, take naught of it. What, will you take it by way of calumny

and open sin [ithm)? (IV, 24/20)

That 'calumny* itself is also an ithm is shown by another verse
relating to an entirely different sort of situation.

Those who hurt the believers, men and women, without their
deserving it, such have laid upon themselves the guilt of calumny
and open sin {ithm). (XXXIH, $3)

In the next example, ithm means the act of unjustly appropriating
the property of others.

244

Good and Sad

Consume not your property among yourselves in vanity, nor seek
to bribe by it the judges that you may devour knowingly a portion,
of the property of others with ithm [i.e. sinfully], (fl, 1 84/ 188)

The second point to note about the word ithm is that it is also used
in connection with karam. In other words, violation of a taboo
constitutes an ithm. The following verse comes after the enumeration
of forbidden foods— carrion, swinoflcsh, blood, and what has been
consecrated to other than God.

But whoso is forced [by hunger into eating haram food], and not
from insolence and not transgressing, it is no sin (ttktn) for him.
Verily, God is Forgiving, Merciful. (II, 168/173)

They will ask thee about wine and maytir. Say, ' In both of them
there is great sin (ithm kahtr) and also some uses for men, but their
sin is greater than their usefulness/ {II, 316/319)

Thirdly, we may observe that the word itkm is applied also to
various aspects of fotfr.

Let not those who disbelieve {kafarfy suppose that Our being
indulgent towards them for a long time [i,e, the fact that we do not
punish them at once for their kttfr] is something good for them.
We only grant them indulgence that they may increase in sin {ithm}.
(Ill, .72/178)

It is associated with shirk, ' polytheism \ and: with t/fira* al-kadhsbj

'forgery of a lie';

He who associates aught with God has surely forged (iftard) a
great sin (ithm). (IV, 51/48)

Behold how they forge against God a lie, and that is enough for
an obvious sin (ithm). (IV, 53/50)

It is noteworthy in this connection that the infernal tree of Zaqq&m
which, as we know, is the special food of the Kifks in Gehenna, is

caUed 'the tree of the sinful (athim)\ showing indirectly that athim
means nothing other than Jfeia/ir.

Verily the tree of Zaqqum shall be the food of the athlrrt, like
molten copper, boiling in. their bellies like the boiling of hot water.
(XLIV, 43-45)

3. KhafFoh. That khafi*ah has roughly the same meaning as ithm
is clearly shown by the following example :

Whoso, having committed a khafPah or an itkm, throws it upon the
innocent, has burdened himself with calumny and an obvious sin
(ithm). (IV, 112)

245

Tiif Analysis of Mq)qt Concepts

As usual, the commentators have tried to draw a dividing line be-
tween the two- words, According to al-RaydaiyT, for instance, hhatFah
here means 'small' sin or an unintentional offence, and ithnt means.
'great' sin or an intentional crime. The Qwr'anie language itself
flatly contradicts such a distinction. For the Qur'an applies the
wurd kiiaftah mainly to the moat heinous religious sins. The examples
that follow will bring out this point,

Noah said, *My Lord, they have rebelled against me, and followed
one whose wealth and children, have increased him only in ruin,
and they have plotted a mighty plot, and said, l Do not forsake your
gods. Do not forsake Wadd, nor Suwl% nor Yaghuth, nor Ya'iiq,
nor Nasr\ And thus they have led many astray. Increase Thou not
these wrong-doers [xdiimiTi) save in. straying. 1 Because of their
sins (kftiiti 'at, pi.) they were drowned and made to enter into a
Fire. (LXXI, 30-25/2J-25)

Better than anything else this passage disclose* the meaning of the
word in question. In the next one, kkdti 1 (part, meaning 'one who
commits a kha(f-ah') evidently replaces the more usual kafir.

Take hold of Dim, fetter him, then roast him in the Hell Fire, and
put him in a chain of seventy cubits 1 Verily, he believed not in the
Almighty God, nor did he ever urge the feeding of the destitute.
So this day he has here no true friend, nor any food except putrid
pus which none but the sinners [kMtPun, pi.) eat. (LXIX, 30--37)

Here is one more example in which KH'T'* evidently refers to the
deeds of kufr^

And Pharaoh, and those before him, and the cities overturned,
committed khdtfah( = khafi'ah), and they rebelled against the
Apostle of their Lord. So He seized them with a vehement grip.
(LXIX, 9-T0)

In the following passage, the JihilT custom of skying one's own
children for fear of poverty is condemned as a great khaf (khafi'afi).

Slay not your children for fear uf poverty. We will provide for them
and for you. Verily, the slaying of them is a great sin {hliaf).

(XVII, 33/31)

Here instead of hhaf words like tlhajib and iikm might as well he used
without causing any change in meaning. It is interesting to note in
this connection that there is a verse in which dfumb and KH- T- are
actually used side by side tn reference to one and the same wrong-
doing. It is found in the Chapter of Joseph, and the 'sin' referred to

246

Good uttJ Bad

is the evil plot which Joseph's brothers framed against him when he
was a little child and for which they are now repentant.

They [Joseph's brothers] said, 'O father, ask forgiveness of our

sins (dhimtih) for us, for certainly we were sinful (kfmf^Jn, part,

P L), (xir, 98/97)

I shall give one more example showing the close connection that
exists between KH-T-* and sayyPah*

They [i.e. the 'hypocrites'] say, 'The Fire will not touch us save
for a number of days.' . . . Say, 'Nay, but whoso has done evil
{sQyy'i*vh} arid is surrounded on all sides by his sin {khafi'ak}*
such are the Fellows of the Fire; therein they shall dwell for ever.*
(II, 74-75/8G-S1)

4. Jurrrt. This word is admittedly a synonym of dhanb. In the
Qur'an, the word appears mostly under the participial form.nuyVwn,
meaning 'one who commits, or has committed, a jurm ' and the ulti-
mate referent is almost invariably kufr. A mere inspection of examples
will make this point abundantly clear.

Takdktb is zjurm:
If they cry thec lies (kadkdhabu), say, ' Your Lord is of all-embracing
mercy, but His violence will not be turned back from the sinful
{mujfamri') people.' (VI, 148/147)

htikbUr is ijurm:

As for those who disbelieved [kafaru), [it will be said unto them on
the Day of Judgment], 'Were not My signs recited unto you?
But you were too haughty (istakbartum), and were a sinful {majrimt)
people,' (XLV, 30/31)

Those who cry lies to Our signs and are too haughty (istakbitru)
to accept them, for them the gates of Heaven shall not be opened,
. . « It is thus that We requite the sinner* (uttijrirrurt)', Gehenna shall
be their couch, with coverings [of fire] above them. Thus do We
requite the wrong-doere {^edmn). (VII, 3S-39/40-41)

The following passage describes in vividly concrete terms the
characteristic arrogance of the itiujrim people towards the believers.

Behold, those who commit jurm (alladhtna ajramii) used to laugh
at those who believed, winking one at another when they passed
them by, and when they went back to their own folk, they returned
jesting, and when they saw them they used to say, ' Lo, these have
indeed gone astray!' (LXXXIII, 29-32)

The Analysis of Major Concepts
Nifa$ is a junrtr

Make no excuse. You [mumifiqun 'hypocrites.'] have disbelieved
after your faith. If We forgive one sect of you, We will chastise
another sect for that they were sinners {mujrifttStt). (IX, 67/66)

If lira' al-kadfub is a jurm:

Who docs greater wrong (azlam) than he who forges against God
a lie or cries lies to His signsp Verily, the sinners (mujrtTn&f) shall

not prosper. (X, 18/17; *** a ^ so ^> 37/35)

Instances could be multiplied indefinitely. But this much suffices

for our present purpose,

5. Jumih and Irfaraj. These terms arc roughly synonymous with
ithnt, and arc most often, used in the Legislative portions of the Book,
They seem to mean a sin or crime for which one deserves punish-
ment.

It is no sin (junali) chargeable upon you that you seek bounty from
your Lord [i.e. that you seek to gain profits by trading during the
period of Pilgrimage]. (II, 194/198)

That juTsOh here is synonymous with ithm may be seen from the fact
that a few verses further on we fuid this very word, ithm, used in
place nt jiinah in a similar contextual situation.

Remember God during a certain number of days [in the Pilgri-
mage], hut whoso hastens off in two days, there is no sin {ithm)
chargeable upon him, and who so delays, there is no sin (ithm)

chargeable upon him, if he fears [God], (II, 199/203)

The word ptttdh occurs very frequently in regulations touching
marriage and divorce. One or two examples may suffice.

It is no sin. (jttaah) for you that you offer a proposal of marriage to

women or keep it secret. (II, 23s)

Thou [Muhammad] mayest put off whomsoever thou wilt of them
[thy wives], and thou mayest take to thyself whomsoever thou
wilt, and if thou seefcest any of those whom thou hast divorced, it
shall be no sin (juttuk) for thee, (XXXIII, 51)

The next example concerns the curtailing of prayer in case of
emergency.

When you go on your travel in the land, it is no sin (juaak) for you
that you curtail your prayer in case you fear that the Kafirs may
attack you, (IV, roa/ioi)

248

Good and Bad

It is no sin (haraj) for the weak and the sick and those who find
naught to spend [that they do not go forth to war in God's way],
if they are true to God and His Apostle, (IX, 92/91)

So We gave her [Zaynab the wife of the Prophet's freedman and
adopted son] in marriage unto thee [Muhammad], so that [hence-
forward] there should be no sin (haraj) for the believers [in general]
in respect of [marrying] the wives of their own adopted sons. . . .
There is no sin {haraj) for the Prophet about what God has ordained
for him. (XXXIII, 37-38)

In this chapter we have dealt with the most important of those
Qur"anic terms that correspond more or less in meaning to the
English words 'good 1 and 'bad 1 . Our consideration of the examples
has clearly shown that it is quite wrong to assert that the Qur'an
docs not possess any fully developed 'abstract* concepts of 1 good b
and ' bad 1 . True, some of the words are, as we. saw, descriptive rather
than classificatory. Words like haram, haiai, and tip, for example, are
most Concretely descriptive. If they evaluate, they do so only in-
directly, that is, through description. Fahiskah and fasdd, too, are
essentially descriptive. But it is also undeniable that some of the
words that we have considered in this chapter are to be regarded as
classificatory rather than descriptive. Sallh is still descriptive to a
great extent; but it is equally classificatory. Words like tayyfak,
husanali are more evaluative than descriptive. And the words that
have heen dealt with in the last section belong definitely to the
secondary-level moral discourse. Earlier, in Chapter I, I have made
this point clear by comparing kttfr with dhanb. The former, as we saw,
has a concrete descriptive content, while the job of the latter consists
in classifying this very semantic content of Aw/r — together with
others— in the category of reprehensible and punishable acts.

As I said at the outset, the System of the Qur'anic ethico-reiigious
concepts is linguistically based on the working of the primary-level
language. And the development of a well-organized secondary-level
language generally known as the 'five legal categories' is largely the
work of the later jurists. And yet, we have to admit also that the
Qur'a'u itself lias a super-structure — although still a very simple one
— of a network of secondary-level moral concepts,

249

CONCLUSION

We may do well to kemembeh that THts book, in the original
edition, was entitled The Structure &f the Ethicai Terms in the Koran,
By the ward * structure' I meant 'semantic constitution*. Not only
does each key concept have its own peculiar connotativc structure
but also the entire body of key concepts has itself a more or less
closed -and independent structure — a system which is, in turn, divisible
into a number of subsystems.

The whole matter is based on the fundamental idea that each lin-
guistic system — Arabic is one, and Quranic Arabic » another —
represents a group of co-ordinated concepts which, together, reflect a
particular Weltanschauung, Commonly shared by, and peculiar to, the
speakers of the language in question. Thus Quranic Arabic corres-
ponds, in its connotativc aspect, to what we may rightly call the
Qur'anic world-view, which in itself is simply a segment of that wider
world- view mirrored by the classical Arabic language. In exactly the
same way, the ethical language of the Qur'ah represents only a seg-
ment of the whole Quranic world-view. And the ethico-religious
terms constitute a small, relatively independent, system within that
ethical segment.

It is solely in relation to this ethico-religious system that each of the

Z50

Cmchmott

terms we have examined acquires its peculiar meaning. Once we have
begun to understand the 'meaning' of words in this sense, it becomes
obvious that wc cannot hope to get at it simply by consulting diction-
aries. A special method must be devised whereby we may observe the
behavior of each key term in all its concrete verbal contexts. There
must, in other words, be a method which will Jet the Quranic terms
explain themselves.

In the first section; I have discussed in some detail a method by
which we can successfully isolate the connotativc structure of each
key term. The second and third parts purport to give the main result?
obtained by the practical application of that method.

The second section is the only historical part of this book. It deals
with the transition period which, on the one hand, definitely separates
the pre-Islamic age from the Islamic, but which, on the other, con-
nects the two in an extremely subtle way, Semantically , it is one of the
most interesting periods in the whole history of Islamic thought; not
only because it marks the very beginning of Islam itself, but also be-
cause, on a more theoretical level, it throws a full light on the dramatic
process by which a traditionally fixed system, of values comes to be
replaced by a new one. The period, in other words, illustrates the
semantic phenomenon in which the key terms forming a system are
disintegrated, transformed in their connotativc structure, modified in
their combinations, and, with the addition of a number of new key
terms, finally integrated into an Entirely different system.

The matter can be formulated in more concrete terms* It is com-
monly imagined that the birth of Islam had almost nothing to do with
pre-Islamic paganism, that Islam meant a complete and definite break
with the preceding period of idolatry. This is certainly true to a large
extent. In fact the Qur'anic revelation marked the birth of something
entirely new, religiously as well as culturally. It was undoubtedly
something unprecedented in the history of the Arabs. It was, in short,
a spiritual revolution causing remarkable repercussions in many walks
of life, both social and personal, so that even the material side of Arab
life was gravely affected by it.

And yet in one respect there is a clear and undeniable connection
between the Arabian polytheistic paganism and Islamic monotheism.
In my recent work, God and Man in the Koran (Tokyo, 1964), T have
shown that many of the key concepts of the Quran relating to the
basic relations between God and man were just a subtly transformed
continuation of the pre-Islamic, genuinely Arab conception. Even
the connotation of the name Allah is shown to be no new invention of
the Quranic revelation. And the same istruc of the ethical terms in the
Qur'an.

We would be seriously mistaken and do gross injustice to the pre-

251

The Analysis of Major Concepts

Islamic Arabs if we imagined, because of the low standard of their
religious conception and the dominant note of hedonism and sensual-
ism in their poetry, that they were devoid of high moral values. On the
Contrary, their life was in reality regulated by the rigorous moral code
of 7miTv.wah t consisting of a number of important concepts such as
'courage ', ' patience', 'generosity \ and 'imperturbable mind'. These
moral concepts are of such a nature that their eternal and universal
values would be reeognJSied in any age and by any people. But, be-
cause it was entirely based on narrow tribalism, the moral code of
marmcah had a peculiar coloring which kept it from being universally
valid.

Some of the pre- Islamic values were totally rejected by the Quran.
But most of them were accepted, modified, and developed, in accord-
ance with the demands of the new religion. The old values, thus radi-
cally transformed and entirely cut off from the traditional tribal mode
of life, were reborn as new ethico-religious values and came to form an.
integral part of the Islamic system. It is tfiis process of inner trans-
formation of the Arab moral concepts, together with various problem*
that were raised by it, that I have studied from the semantic point of
view in the second part of the present study.

In the third section I have tried to analyze the Quranic system of
ethico-religious concepts against the historical background described
in the second part. I have shown how this system, one aspect of the
Quranic world- view, is based on a very simple, but very strong and
vigorous dichotomy of r guod ' and 'bad \ The Qur'an, instead of using
the concepts of good and bad in a more or less abstract fashion,
judges human conduct and character in a very concrete form: ttniitt
and kufr, each surrounded by a host of related concepts, constitute
the two pillars of Quranic ethics. Human conduct and behavior are
described and evaluated mostly in the ethical language of the primary
level. The elaboration of an ethical metalanguage is left as a task for
the jurists of the coming ages.

It goes without saying that, in the Qur'an, religion is the soufcc and
ultimate ground of all tilings. In this sense, the ethico- religious con-
cepts are the most important and most basic of all that have to do with
morality L Moreover, Islamic thought at its Qur'anic stage, makes no
real distinction between the religious and the ethical. The ethical
language of the Qur'an, however, has another important field, com-
posed of key concepts relating to social ethics. Thi» field too is
essentially of a religious nature, since all rules of conduct are ulti-
mately dependent upon divine commands and prohibitions. But its
concepts concern horizontal relations between human beings living
in the same religious community, while the ethjco-religious concepts
concern vertical relations between human beings and God.

252

Conclusion

In view of the fact that the Quranic teaching was destined to
develop not only as a religion but also as a culture and a civilization,
we have to admit the supreme importance of the field of social ethics,
which consists of concepts relating to the daily life of the people in
society. And the Qur'an, particularly in the Medina period, has much
to say about community life. This side of Qur'anic ethics has not been
systematically explored in the present work. To do so, another book
will have to be written.

2 53

This page intentionally left blank

INDEX OF QUR'ANIC CITATIONS

11:

7-S/B-9. iSi
9/10, iSz
Td-ri/ii-i*.
iafij- 1S2
13/14. iBi
14/15. 150
J4-lJj'(S-^.
16/17. 182

*5/*7-
16/28,

13/35.
1S/+0.

+I./44.

[67

MS
20B

4^43/45-4^
4M-7/4*-5*.
ja/6i, 174
61/65. I 73
*»/74. 127
74^3/80-81.
76/81, z&*
77/*3- »5

j Si

jSi

247

78-79/64-85. ajS

83-85/89-91. 117

86-^7/92-93. 171
93t99- 'S*

1rt/i«> iiS
I M ' j •.'-.. [ j+

IOJl'lOl), ia6

104/110, tig
10.5-106/ r 1 i-irz. 70
108/114. [70
114/1*0, 141
121-122. 1 (JO
Ii5-ii(6/is7-ti6. 19*
131-132. igo
140/ 1 +5. 141
141-142/146-147. 99

147/lJi. [31
148-151/153-156. xo4

153/ljS. 121, 3D3
l60/]65. 171

if.;, iNH. 239
163-164/168-169. 233

164/1S5. 134
165/175, 4*

*5S

Index of Qwf'ank Citations

Etkico- Religious Concepts in the Qur'an

II:— Cmife*.

166/171,

1*8/173.
170/175.
173/177.

130
239

238, 14s
•34

,17. MS

173-1 74/ '7«- *S

(76/18*. 417
1 77-17*/! So- 1 Si.
184/168. 145

244

(8S/18*.
(86/igo,

194/198.
190/203.

MS-206,

3oS/3t3,
311,3*5.

i-jfi

2+8

12J
24S

?■?

igf

ilS

211-113/316. hi

216/319. 540, 245

330, [67

35*. 340
33*. 1*6. *«4

332. 213,215

333. aiS

335, 24S

246/345'. 222

ifiS-iS 1/249-25*!. 102
357/*5*. U5
263-264/261-262. 79
2*6/2*4, 77
17 1 /ifiS. 434
272/369, 2HJ
274-275/272-374. si S
277. 305
379- i&7
281. 165

283, i*i, 210, 211
aS*. 344

HI;

9/11. 242

17/19. 194

25/26. 31*
3t/37. 221

34/30- *<*

4.1/46. 206

53/60. 99
55-56/62-63, 3t3
63-70. 114
60-67/75-74, if «
76/83. 160
78-79/84-8.5. 189
8o,'S6. 116, 169
$4/o«. 1*6
Ho/92. 20K
#?/93- 239

^j-gofioo-ioi. 1S8
100/104. 216
io-6/iro. 162, 21 6
io<; [ 10/ 1 1 3-1 14. 2135
1)2-113/116-117-. 166

Jl*/|20. 22]

1 27- 1 18/ 133-134. »5
128-129^134-135. St43
140/140. 102

148/154- 3i
158/(64. 135
1 60- 1 61 /16&-167- iSo
169/175. IW

I7I/I77- iSS
172/178. 245
175-176/160, Bi
I9i/t9j. 228, 1*3

IV;

3. 211
11/10. 169
13-16/11-13, 167

U/13. 1*7
17-18/13-14, 167
31-23/17—18. 332

13/74. 21$, 22 1
34/30. 34+

26/12. tj+
33/27. 14*
js/31. 228, 243
40-41/36-37. 326

44/4*. »3
5:1/4*. 229, 345

53/SO- z+5

7&/76, 18S

80/78. 223

102/10-1. 246

p 06-107/10$-! 07. 9J

112. 345

1K-123/1I3-H4, SC7

137/ 128, 83

llS/l^. 3tl

«34. f '3S- * la
141—143/142—143. 160

144/145, 179

1 58-1 jo/ 160-161. 239

165/167. 135
165-166/167-168. 171
<7*/J73. *43

*/4- =35
ii/S, iiu

10/13. 21 5

16/23, T»i *99

28/25. «5*

31/38. 199

35^36/33- '77
♦3/38. 1*6
45/41. 179
4*/4i. 2*9, 339

4«/44. 4J

+9/4J. 41

Si/47- 4 *

52/46. 141

53/46. 319

S4/+9. a+3

5S/5»- 3'

**/S7- 19*

67/02, 230

*9/*4, 149

72/68, 149

76/7 J, I7t
7S~77/7a-73- '3i

79/75. 93

a 1/77, 140

82-83/78-79- 2 '7
84/61. 1*1
8R/B5-86. 325
S9/S7. 173
90/68, 235

92/90. 14«
9*/95. 173
97/96. 237
105/ 106. 244
106/ 107. 173
112. 196

VI:

1. I3«
4-S. too

10. 1 S3
14. *«'

21- I7»

x j- 130

jo. 47, 125
31- 53
J3-35- «
34. 103
42-43. 73
53. 168

53. 201

54. *3=

J*. IJ9

63--64. 201
67/68. 17*
*¥■ $3
70. 53
74- J 3&, 191
93. 170
106. 131
I J I. 33, 1*7
11;. 91
ii6, 141
J 17- 134
in, 1*1
131, 166
I3*/I3S- 169

139/138. ID!

[43/141. 175

I4I/I4+- 238

146/145- 147. *4*

147/146. 238

146/147- *47
159/158. 219

VII:

±6-27/27-28. 234
29/31. 174

257

256

Ethko- Religious Concepts in the Qu/an

VII s — wmfrf.
J '.'33- *39
38-39/40-41- *+7
42-4J/++-4S- *S, 17'
49, r 5i . S3
50/S*- 194
54/S&, 199

7S-74/75-7fc <+*

78/80. 134.
78-79/80-81. 17s

ice/jo*. 160
120-123/123-126. ioj

] 2 4 I [ 2J. 31 J

HS/M& roj

129-130/13*-! 3 3- 143
134-136/138-140. 34
143-1+4/146- HS
H7/'+S. i/i

IJf/lS*. TOO, [II
Tjj-)5s/iS?-(S3' 2*6
156/157. 236
162. 17J
1*3 . T7». '73

1 66. I49

167/168. laj.

IT7-i7 fi /J78-i79. 13 B

VTH:
a-*, 185
I5-I6- »

20 2.J. 129
jft. »2

37-3%6-37- 236
S*-S3/So-JSi- its
54/52, 343

60/58. 94
68/67. S o
71/70. 219

IX:

S. )6o

IJ-IJ- *S
17-16. irj.j.

*3- 171

=4- 159
27- "°
28. 241

34-35. 8-a
44-45- **
49-60. 159

56- a*

67/66. 24B

«8/6j, Sr, 158, it*, a 16
71/71. 216
73/7*- *35
76-77/75-76- *i
85/84. 158

91/9-1. *49

94/93. >*e

96/95- 341
97/9*' 159
98/97, 183

99-100/98-99. 79
103/101, 183, 107

[Qi—Iflj/lDI-lM. ZO"

113J112, 1S5

114-115/)) J- 1 J 4. fit)

IZ4/123. 85

Il6/l2j. 241

7-8. 150

li/ll. IjO
l8/l7. 248

Ij/aa. 23 s
27-*aj2S-27- 224
32-33/31-32. 98
34/33- ■**
36/35- 99
37/3*. 133
41/44. 212

43-44/42-43. tag

48/47. MS
6 1 ;'<». 20 1
67/66, 1 3*
69—7 1/68-70. 131

6l. ZI2

90-91. 147
105-106. 19s

XI;

21-22/18-19. 171
27-29/35-47. 3+
3i/*9- 3+
37/3S- *+8
4B/46. aaj

52/50. 101

80/78- 329, *34

86/85. 2TO

119/117. ifcj
XII;

i- ij9
e. 134

13 134

*+■ 233

Z8-29. 38

29. 243

30. '3+
33- 3*

4*- 93
Si-51. flj

S3. 23*

67. 71

73. zii

75. i«

90. 224

98/97. =47

XEIIl

S-6/s. «S
15/14. t31

20-23. 109

15, 23*

26. 52

zS, n:
3.3/31. 127
33- 13*

3J- 196"

XIV:
6-7. aoo

14— rs/11— 12. 71
17/14. 199
21/18. I3S
25/21. IDS

33-34/38-29. 121

ay/w-M- "j

/sufey 0/ j^ur'auEc Cif&titms

48/47. 69

XV:

56- 137

79. 69

94.-56. 153

XVI 1

3-) 8. 122

29-30/27-2*.

aj3

30/28, zj$

3,1/39. 113

32/30. 219

33-34/ J '-32.

>-M>

38/36. 136

53-54/51-52.

aoo

60-61/58-59.

*3*

65./07, 221

80-85/78-831

,23

9<9/88. 213

93/90. 234

108/106. 188

|O9-IIo/l07-IO$. IJQ

113- 131

II4. 121

IIS/ill, III

II7/H6, 101

121-122. 19a

133. 19*

I24/I SB-J2T.

I'U

XVII:

16/15. iJ4

20/l4. *°2

24-2S/23-24-

19, 68, 226

3S-Z9/Z6-Z7,

31-32/29-30

V S

33/31. 340

33-39/31-37-

i£:;.

34/34. »33

40/38, 229

47-48/45-46.

(3-1

55/53. ii*

6i-6z/j9-6o.

I«f

68-69/66-67.

!23

83/8J, 99

9jJ189. i*$

109-E91. 135

=ss

359

Ethko-Rdigiem Concepts in

(Aj? £>ur'<su

XVII :- cmtd.

74. 230, 236

102/1150, B3

77. 231

ioS-109/107-iorj.

7.'

94. in

XVI II:

97-0B. 139

12-13. 194

105, 206

17/sR, 67, i»4

agfaa «4

XXII:

44/46. JO

1. 7c, 195

4H/S0. 1 61

6. 98

5*/S+. ISI

8-jj. 154

S4/S&, 1J4

12. 136

5S/57- 1*9

31/39, 24°

73/74- *'°

ja/ji. 131

79/B*. 149

3S-3*/j4-3S- 7*

<J3/°4. «a

3»i"37- V*

ic6. 114, 1J3

39-/3S, 96

I L C . 20J

40/39-40- 17»
40-41/39-40. 16B

XIX:

45 ,'*6. isv

' 3-14/1 *-i+. •!»

5*/5i. 170

14/13-14. 200

61/62- 97

28-29/27-28. 230

Ji-JJ.'JJ-J^- 1 5*.

244

XXIJI:

38-39/37-38. ij7

1-6. 187

Wi?- '39

6-11. 18}

43-49/41-48. 54

47-49/45-4*- i44

fie/S^ ifi

72^73/70-71. 9S
77. 149

XX:

84-85/82-83, 47

63-44/61. Id

111-1 13 /109-111. 10

68-71/65-68. 19B

70-80/77. io#

XXIV:

89/86. 222

4. 161

1 1^-120/121—1x2.

IJ*

31, 234

12 i-i 3+/ 12 j- 124.

J'v3

2,2. 19

117. 177

36. 236

jg- 13a

XXI:

40. 131

2-3, 169

Sl/S*, 197

5, 169

ai-jSj.'-lo-.n. taj

XXV;

36/35- =*c

23/21, t48

37/36-. 133

42/40. 131

+2/41- 153

45fa* 141

48/47. 2IO

+6/44- i*9. 135. «3*

fr;s/46-«. 19*

64/63, 69

39-60/58-59, 16B

64-6fi, l 6j-68, 186

260

indite 0/ (^ur'dTHC Citations

103, [j3

67- 7M3
72-74. 166

XXVI:

17-18/18-19. 41
we-01, i.i7
96-99- 137
1J5- 199
150-154. 175
165-166. 173

XXVII;

4. ijfi
10. 198

«S-*4- 14+

19. 206
40. 200

55-56/54-55- 32
82-83/30-81, 129
91-92/89-90. 223

XXVII] :
3/4- 214
5o- '3?
55- 34
58. 148

fit. 222
73. 201

76-7B, 147
77. 67

XXIX:

6/7. 2Z3

27-29/26--30. Hi

33/3+. 161

ifi-i^/M-4*. 34a

46/47. 40

4B/49. 40
65-60. 1 22

XXX:

5/6. 88

9/10, 230,
14-15/15-16. i8B
28/29. !4f

10/30, 193
4*/47 69

XXXI l

2-3/3-51. SJ4-
10/ ii, 137
is/i3, 171

13-1+/14-1S. 415

1 7- 1 8/ 1 8-1 9. 143
19/30. 154
29/30. 97
31/32, 96

XXXI I:

6— S-i'T— 9r 2*1

IS- 40

18. 18S

XXX] II:

6. 61
7-6. 90
33-34- SI.9S
3?- 314
33- 3i
35- 11*
j6- rS7

37- tfl8

37-38. 149
51- *4&

58- 444

XXXIV:

?■ 47
8. 131
30/31. 125
42/43. g8

XXXV;

ill IP. 235,236

29/32, 107

37/3* J6

40-41 .142-43- 226

XXXVI:
4-5/S-6- 139
22^23/23^24. 136
71-73. 301

XXXVII:
la-is- 153

34-i5/i;-36. 144

36l

Etkico-ReHgifitii Coticepts m

(fte Qur'dti

XXXVII i—amtd.

XLl:

■fio-&676i-q8.

a-4^-5- f*8

104 106. 22;

419-59. 22.0
XLII:

XXXVIII:

17/18. 137

3-4/4-5, 1*6

46/2.7, 146

3 Si '3'- "7

3'/3i-33- J»«

+5-4*. 193

39-40/41-4^-

.48

416-+?, 430

47/4S, in

+9-50- lp>

55-56. '5«

XL1II:

71-76/71-75,

144

11-23/22-24-

4«

4S-5i/46-IJ'

160

XXXIX:

*?-*&■ J 55

*-3. 193
9/7, 200

XI.1V:

14/11-13. 103

15/16. 69

itf-O/14-15.

193

43-4S- *4S

18/16, iH

13/2*. 136

Xf-V:

44/13. 1*7

4^5- 201

33/31. 170

14/1$. ?■-'■■}

jH/37' 69

iB/to. jo6

4S-4t}l'47-4§.

418

20/21. 2©6

51/51. liK

42/43, 14 (

6o/.5p. T4Z

2.3/24. 47

* l-Gt/fie-^fi 1 .

>+.H

30/31. 447

*4-6S- 3+

XLVI:

ll/l2. 235

XL:

14/15. 66, iij

+-S- IJ4

*4-iJ/iJ-i*.

j 10

14. IJ<J

19/aot 53, in

17, J&s

20-22/21-23..

J 5

22.-23/21—22.

242

25/26. 1291

28(47, 141

M>fa8. I7S, 1

19*

XLVIIi

30/4?. 195

1-3, i&ft

36-37/34-35.

17*

13/12. 187

37/3 i- IS2, 1

135

26/24. 148

3*-*0|'5*-37-

233

36/36. 49

43/40. 4*6

45-46/42-43.

ttf

XL VIII:

56/56. 146

6- 131

60/58. ajo

10. 89

61/60. 113

12. 231

73-7*/7l^f*.

'4.=;

16, 31

/Htfex of Quranic Citations

XI,TX:
7. 1 88
9. in
li. 243

13- 54.65
14-15. 108, 189

a-3- 47
13-15, 1 15
28/20. 165

30"33/3'-34- "I
36/37. 148

)8fo» J04

LI:

10-14. "4p '33
15-19. 2*4

IAI:

9-16- 113

LIII:

i^-23- 133

28-29/27-^il, 133
31/30. 107

LIV:
24-25, it*

LVIl

40-43/41-44. 1 12
51-56. ii2 h rj6

fin-e^j's^-^o. 201

LVIl:

7. 79

13-14, 1S1
15/16. 162

]7/l8. 2ZD

lS/19- $4

:;j 3c'2c-. 40
lA. 1U2

LVIIL

2. 217

31. 60

L1X:

13.

200

[ft.

7">

»9-

[fa

20.

10-

*1.

"J7

1.X;

»9

LXI:

z-3

, tSe

I.XII

:■-

169

LXTII:

i-i

, 181

178

it.

zcA

LXIV

K)6

if..

LXV;

167= 16S

148, 149

LXVI

;

111

'"4.J79

LXVI I:

:iz

»-

132

ro-ir. 242

10-

"3- 57

19,

136

LXVin:

S-16. 115

35-

107

262

363

Ethico-Religiom Concepts in the Qufun

LXIX:
■9-10. 246
3°-37, 114, *46
4S-S 1 ' le &

I.XX:

22,-35. 10?

LXXIi

in- 55/21 25. 246
27-36/36-27, 164

LXXE1:

1-2, Ifrt

14-15. 114. '91, 195

24/33, [14

LXXIII:
io-ii, 103

LXXEV:

4+-48.H3-47. 115

LXXV:
3-6- 163

1.XXV1 :

22. 203

LXV1II:

5I-2&- 113

I.XXIX'

37-41. 150

LXXX:
i-ie. W

33-3^- 59

3811a. 164

LXXXH;

13-16. 113, 164

LXXXIII:
1-3- 210

IQ-I2. 174

14- ;2>
25-32. 247

IJtXXIV:

13-14- S3
19-23. 144

LXXXVII;
16-17. 5*

LXXXJX:

iS-ii/iT-sa. 6*

XC:

13-17. 69

XCI:
7-& 163

11-19. 149
XCJI:

XCIEI;
d-u. 67

XCVI:
6^7* 151

XCVIII:
7-R i?7

XCIX:
*-S. mi

C:
6-S. 1*4

CEV:

1-3,

CVEI:

i-7-

fufi

CJX:

j-6.

'°.=

INDEX OF ARABIC WORDS 1

'-th-rn

sthEm,, 96, 174, -244, 24$

ithm, si, un h 236. 239, *4*. *43. *44,

24S, 146, 24S
ithm kablr, 245

murtLwah, 15, 37, 66 r 7 j, 7B, Si, Sa p

84. C4.1i 2J2

'-m-fQ

amftrraihyj 161

uinmah, 191, 192

Unnn&h fn.vsHrn*h, 190
5 -jn-n

:1~-.iiii.i. 194

ami n«h, 9 1
BKuuir, 103, 111
Amanna, lSg

imSTTil, jofi, 187, 18B, I94j 21S
Smart, 18, 71, 104, 120, 124, 12&, 130,
T3j h 142, 154, 161, 161, 171, 179.
181, i*4. 1*6, 1*7, tWb 189, 190,
19;, 204, 20K, 216, 227, 252
11 yulninOn, 139

mu'nuri, z6, 39, 86, !<)<>, i0#, 1^9,
ISO, 162, i*JJ, 179, 187, 1*8,
«a
mu*niiiiiii , 182, lfij
mti'mintm, 189
yu = lriin, 19s
*-w— b

■w^ib, 1(1
-y a
ivaH, 122
ftyit, 132, 124
b-^-s

**'**'> 37, 38

364

1 Thi* indtoi iiMS ill Arabic word* thit St* Elicited in, the text. TV Aiihit
words are listed under their respective roots which at* arranged in the order of the
Aiahtc alphabet. The- sub-classification, of derivative forma from each root is,
however, listed in the order of the English alphabet.

165

Ethko-Rdigiouf Concepts in the Qur'tm

b-kh-1
buMiit, S 3

bnkhitu, Si
bukhl. So, Bl,Sj r :
yabkharQiia, 81

abtir, 113, 164

tx8iT h iij, 132, 162, 163, 1614, aeg

birr, 37, 307, 208, 209
tflhii-ril, ^i>9
b-r-'
trarl% 56
tBbarra = n, ^6

fubarra^a fninbu, tjo

tab*ira\ 5&, 60
b-t-rr

beHar, 146, 148

SiiMrj, J48

habitat, 14B
b t 1

b&ttl. 97, 94. 10*
h-<fiHl

bagha, 146, 147, 14.8, zii

bnjzhstj i 1 1

bajtbamf, 14J&

baghl, 147, 238

bsghy, 134

y*bffhuna, 148
b^l-gK

inub^lasliali, 92, 96
b-l-y

ImlTyab, 217
b \v - h

b~w^r
bar, 231

t-w-b
«bo, 111

tawbah, 110

(awbatin mDSuhan, 1 1 1

tnwwibv 1 1 1

tubtu, rn

'. LI i I •,! , III

yatubu, 1 id
j-b-r

■abba*, 151, 152, 176

akthar shay 3 jadalsn, ijs

jadaVu, 'S4

yugadilu, IJ4
yujSdilCliva, !4*= 155
j-r-m

aLkidhina ajramO, 247
jurtii, 247, 248
mujrim, T07, 247
mujrtmlj 347
mujnmiTi, 107, ttf
mnirimfla, 1J7, 44a

jazrnna, 101

i-n-b

jimife, 213, 240, 24H

JTl (

jniwf, 144

jinn, 9S
majnun, 98

-h-i

jSM. J*. 33, 54. 35. 41. 186

jshila, 33

jihill, as, 47, 48, 51,67, Vh 7J, 7*i 77,
81.84, 85

jShiJin, 3 a, J J, 34, 35

jahiliya, 213

jahiliyah, 16, aa, 28, 29, jo ; 31, 46, 4S,
4Q, 5C 5 1 , 5^. i'S. f*t, 64, 65, *>7. 66,
7", 7*, 74, 75, 7*. 7», 79, 80, 81,
84

bflrnij'at, ai-jjlhiiiyab, 31, 35, 70

jihiluil, 34, $9

jabJ. 27, at, ji, 34, 35

tajbiliina, 34, 34

yajbaJOna, 33

ji^. 21
Hrb

hijab, 12B
h-d-d

budud Allib, 16?

yaia'adda hudQdahu, 167

b*r»i, 248., 249

^arsm, 31, lot, 173, ijfr, »37, S3*,

*3?> *4°, 241, 143, 24S k *4<>
han-ama, 138, 139
h>arnimnpv =39
buffiif*, 238
y-uburriimi, 336
trt-b

'7:1 nil, LV3

b-a-n

»baana, 233, 334, 14a

stiaana "anxaJen, 224

abaanQ, 224

alsia., 67, 1+7

hjumn, i*7, Ui, 222

haiariih, 38, 2za, 223, 224, 22^,

349

baaenit, 213

ihjHin, 147, to;, 124, 23 _r, 22b, 234
rmib*irK 224, 223
[DLLttsLriin, So, 224, 225. 242
K-a-r

mabfflr, 11

liiti; al-Furij, 1439
Ij-q-q

biww, 89, <*5> 17> «», OT, 100, 106,

»4<
bi-ghayr hlqq, I^S

h -k m

■-■'• Ir.'m, s<?

bxJNf, iij

h-l-l

b»Lil, 101, 173, 23S, ij6, *37, ijB,

aj9, *4° ( 249
bill, 234

[sbillu, 240
ubilta, S3S, ftjB

la yahillu, 215

bibn h 28, ii, nix, 34, *y, 84, i43. i-Bfi,
224,22s

hamaaah, 27

Index of Arabic Wordt

b-n-f
bwtlf, i4ii 142

biinnfl', [92
lih-b-t

ikhba» h 7j
mufchbit, 71
Ith-b-th

thabith, 235, 236
khabs'idl, sjf,
fcrulnlli.il. 136
bhabitbln, 436
kb t r
khutr, (^
>.!■ II-..H , 96

i-r-m

khatnrrw, j*8

yeMitanunaj 95
kh-r-j

khariji, *J

khuruj E an al-lS =li. 1 S7
Ui-r-ij

khariis, 114, 133

hhatrajCn, 1 14, 1 33

yakhru^tai, 132, 141
Lb.'^h--*

khisbi'j fi, 109
kh-sh-y

khasbiyi, Hj/h, 197, ig!t

kbaibyah, igb, 197, 198, 199

ukiviliri, i-.fi.

>-n.kSis(ia, rw, 19?

yakhahawna, 196, igy
kh-5-tii

khaaiffl, 135
kh-i-

khaf, 24&

lrr-~iti\ 2-4^

Jchatrah, 38., 243, 445, 246, 247
kfuti'ln, 3* t 343- *+7

khiit'Lin, 246

khalada, 47
khulttd, 47, 48, so, (12
mutbJid r iS. ;o
kh-H

afch]i$ii, 191

267

Ethitfr-Religioiit Cwtctpts in the Qur'an

akhla^na, 1 93

t-j-s

thili*:, 193

rij?, 24ft, 141 , 249

khiliaah, [97

T-iy-ra.

:ni.l<hlif , njJ, :■;-!

irbsui, 19

rtjukhlijin lallu aMift, 192

nbUa. 19, us

thi-1

rabuish, 19, 419, 42O1 3*6

khan, 56

r-sh-d

kh-n-f

reshfld, J9+, 195

akhifu, 199

rashad, ^94, 195

thafa, iy) r 199

rashada, 194

klilfij. 194

rashwl, 194

khawf, 196, 198, 199

n..:.d, 194, 195

khswfun, 399

r-k-b

Icbaivwafa, i^il

tnurtakib kabiiah, 157

khifah, 198

t-)(-n

nukfiawwifii, 199

-attMn, 109

takhSf, 1^3

i*-h-b

takhafu, 199

irhabtl, 200

tathwif, 198, 199, * OT

r&hbah, 200

l-iikViiiTu. :■:,'<

rfiliib, 1 57, zoo

alladhina, yaJchifQn, igQ

rWHiLa, 1 99, snO

yukhavwifu, 199

r-y— h

kh-w-n

irtabtum, 181

kha'trt, Q4, 9S, 96

irvurtab. 176

kha'inln, 94, 95

r~y-fi

L'-S-ii, 9S

rii n? , : ;. k

■JSjwwSn, 95, 96

2-k-y

fchjyinnbi,, 91, 91, 94, 95, 97

zaialt, 7S, 11 j

kh-y-r

*-n-m

akhylr, -220

Faiirm, 57, iij

khayr, 11. 3Sj 39 !Bi MJi sifi,

E-y-gh

117, 11S, 219, 22*, 22 [, 224,

tuiifih, 138

«J

zagha, 137

khayr&t, 205, 219

lajgh, 137, 138, 140

■d-n-a

a-j-n

al-dunya", 10S

Siijm, i*j

d-h-r

a-b-r

nJahi-, 47

akkallirtj Ji]-<iu.M, 4J9

d-w-ii

su^iit, 239

dlwin. 49

a-kh-r

dh-k-r

uw^thara. If]

dhskie Allah, no

ittakhodha BJfchrJysn, if 3

dhikr, 193, 194

innkFwIhiniTnahtLm flifchiirMii 153

dhlkia, 128

H&hita, 153

dh-n-b

yasldurOiia, 15?

dhtnb, 41, 22, 44, jS, 227, az&, 242,

yaataskhirunaj i$j

443. 24G, 247, Z49

*-r-r

dluuiub, 207, 228, 241, 243, 147

nam! 1 , 38

268

Mrtfs, T74= I7&, J77

jsrif, S3, is*, 174. U5j IT 6 . '77, 1S6

mumif, 15*, 174, 175, iA 177, iW

niusiil'iiii, 177

tiuiifa, 174

yusriffl, 83
a-f-h

sfifui, Sj
a-l-m

tilima, IIJ, 1*9, 191, 195

ttJamna, 139

:,.. I '•::.:. I. rV:. 190

aiJim, i<}<*

lUim. jK, jo, 103, 1S9, 190, 191, 193,

i9S

al-islsm 'aLa al'haqiqah, 190

iilatn; Iniya al-din s lnda Allah al-

. J: L!_. I9Q

isJSm-iinilii , 193

muiJin). *6, 70, 107, ioSi 109, H3>
rxo, 1B9, 190, 191

muJsimin, 103, 107, I tc, 193

muslimon, tij, 189, 190, 191, 19J
*-n-n

tna*ftQn, ±0

aiiruiah, d}
B^i-r

iLKt, gS
a-w- 1

jsn'a, ?i9, i3U

aaa'd, 230

sa'ii, ajo, z:^3

sa'a aabilan, 234

tai* J , ^30, 231, 236

da'irst ftl'sa^ 1 , i-jj

imta.' saw', 430

ma^ar al-saw 1 , 231

flavrm sai^, 430, 436

rajui aJ-aaw', 230

mju! wiV, xj&

zann al-aaw", 331

Myyf, ja6, »7, Jifi, aji

aJ-uiikf al-4ayyi J , 426

aayyi'ah, 3*, 39, w6, 207j 223, 224,
±26, 227, zi8, 229, 343, zi7, »49

»*.yyfat, 243, 44+, 423, 429, 432, 234,
»43

Index of Arabic Words

sayyl'illlU, J*9

v£l', £07, 221, 227, 23O, 231, 432,

233

su= aL-dar, 232
aa 1 'utwlihi, 233

f.ajin al-ati', 231
musP, zzii, 2jO

iiWLjS'ah, 103

Bh-t,-)j

sbynh^i, A3

ahi^h, S3

.1: nil , , £3

ah-i^-r

*bal-r, 21, 39, 213, 217, 220, Z2I, 2Z3,

231

shar', 213
ah-p-k

rrmshiil, 13a, 131, "132, JS3. I9«i
19*

muahnldfl, 191, 192, 194

jivjsiu ikun, 162, 241

shirk, 39, 13*, 131, J 34, 136, 139.
14 ", I4S, 1 S3, ifo, 171. «7a> ?9*>
201,119,441,24;

ihifk-leiii'f, 1 53

-.1 :,!:■„>: 1 , !..... 132

tuahrikO, 4)9

tmhrikQna, 145, 201

ua-bxika, 176

yushrik, 134
*h- c -b

nbu'Obiyab, (13, 64
ali^-q

jnwhfiiiMTi, 137

muahfiqflna, 196
ah-k-r

a.i]ij:ijrj, 1 to, 20A

aahkum, 200

mswhkir, ip4

shakartum, 4oe

sKSiir-, 4*, 34, HI, 192, J04

shSLifln, 201

abmkr, no, izi, 124, 19;, 200, 201,

»z
UBhluiu, 200

369

EthicQ-Religknus C«nt#pt$ m (A* Qur'cta

tJishiurunii , 101

wj-tiihturij ]J, 122

yashJturuna , 201
Jb-k-k

shafck, 17G
ah-h-i

"hahwjih, 142

shaha-wal, 14*
V-b-C

ijbirj 103, 104

ijbir na.fsata, 104

Lj-bifQj JO3

ssbani, 104

interna, iC2

sabsrt, J03

Mtrir, iohj

?abitTTi, i*l, 104

?abjr, ioi, im, 10 j, 104, iag

yaabir, 224

[iiutasaddki, itx)

5**aq«, 1*9, 91

si-.i.lii.|u. gi

alhidblna aadaqti, 37, zo'S

fiddiLj, ity, ij*, 93, 94

aiddiqah, 93

siddiqQn, 94

jidiq, 89, 90, 91. 9*, 94, 91, 109,

iSu

**djj. 89

W^h 37> ^9, 90, 91, HJ3, 94. 97. 109.

s:u'lflk, j6, S7

SijfU'ir, «R, 243
P-Hl

a^lnhii, 212, AJ1

jibb, 3, 304, 2Djj ao^j 207, 216, 21 S,
229,232,236,249

'ainal jilih, 30(1, 207

al-°amal al-jalih, 236
'arnila sJlih., 4*9
aftlibah, 185, **8

$alLhSt, .185, 1S7, 204, 20s, 206, 207,
208, 119, 224, 229. 230

AlladEunJ janaou wi.'amiiQ il-jili-
bsi, 204

j-usJitiu, 2 j 2
yuBiUfQna, 175
3--w-m

, 1 I'll, 109

d-r-r

danr, 231

darri*, 57, }S, 220

dtraran, 214
4-r-'

uidatnj', 71, 73, (jo

yata^arra'Cuia, 72
d-W

adaU, J 39

adaQa, 137, i^j

aijallii, 133, 138, 140

dalil, 133., 1 J4, 133, 136, 137, 138,
<3<J, >•■::!.

dalljab, 133, 13+, 136, iSi

(Jalallu, 1 39

dill, 107, 137

dalla, 13 j t 134, 137

4a]]Q, 133, 14a

dSUfln, 13.6

dalluna, 1.37

yadiLLUj 134

yudliL, 13B

t-b-<

Vilia'a, 12S
t~fib-a

tagha, I4y, 13c 151

tiKhi, Si J

tiabin, 113, 150

tafihwi, 149

tughan, 149

tughyin, 149, 130, 182, 199

yafizhi, IJi

(aifefa, 210
mufiftifiTi, 219

..!!■!.,:■.■;. 199

t-h-r
tibir, *4t

S70

t-w '

tnh, ii 6
-y-h

tnyyib, 233, 136, 439

?|-fcalEm aUfayyft, 235

Lalad layyib, 235
masikin (ayyibih, 2.35
rth tayyibah, 233
tayyibat, 233, 336, 519
tlyyihjn, 233, 236

■zlam, 40, 24^
la tuibimuna, i*7
yaziim, r6j

yaiJim&n, 172

yujlamuna, ($5, ±A9

2a]"UT*, 14A *0G

talamu, 141., 171, 172, 225, 228,242.

aJladtilna 2akmll, 169, 227

FJlim, i9, 24, 15, 4Ui 41, HJ. 117,
'J9, [ i^.. '^4r 1^5, 1 ' ) 6, 167, ibi,
169, 170, 171, J7i. I7if, 17*, 19&

(Uinln, 25, 33, 139, 141, 171, 196,

246, 247
iilimiln, 41 , 137,. i<J7, 17c, 171, ioij

piltBTTl, [S, if) J
pillum, 122

aulimu, 16S

fubn, 18, ij*, 13"), I47. f S*. i^tn i*5i
I**, 167, 168, i<?9, i?0i IJi, IJi,

•73, I?*- W9>«7, *39- *+«

fiJm al-nafa, if>6, 167, 233, 242

oilman, cfty
z-n-11

pmn, 132, 1J3, 14J

zannin, 231
*-b-d

..bd, 6$
*-t-l

'utul, ris
*-t-ft

'sta, 146,. 148, 14V

: ;Miiw, r 4 9
%ti[, J49
'UHlWilL, 148
*-d-l

c «dl, 91. 110, 411, 234
(MLlli, 210

Aid» */ AraMc Words

hi :M|.i, j c. .;.i 1
*-d-3

'■Hlfirrjl, 173

'adw, 147

i'tKla, 17s, 173, 174

i'tadaw, 173

i'tadayni, 171

i°ridi", 13*, 174

mu'tadi, 115, 15*, 163, iji, T74

mu'Mdfrt, 171, 173

ta'tada, 172, 173

c udivaiL, 239

vi|--.i"-i:.. 173

ya'tadQna, 174, 217
*-dh-b

'idhib, 134, 135
*-r-f

ima'rif, MS, 113, 1>4, ^13, "6, 4i7 d
221

ma" iilfBTi , 1 [ .=;

'Urf, a 16
'•-z-z

:.' -.'I.' 70

'a^ahiyah, 56, 39

lib 'a^ifah, 335

*«*i '37, "74
c a$a.w, 174., 417
■=asayta, 147
W, 1 14, 15*

ii;j sh-jijj, 227

Tna'Sji, 216, 44Q

'itm^S, 132, 133. «4t
rlsQdian fi al-'ilm, 138

'ill, 144. J4S, "4*

'ulCiw, 144

r uluwaii, [14
=-rti-|

"jirciil, 206
f -m-ta

'unaha, 138, 150

271

Ethieo-Religifitis Concepts in the Qur'dn

fW-r

'amthii, ijS

yn'crahnin, I3.JS
c -y-b

M'fryb f i irosabihi, 57
sh-d-r

pbaddar, 96

[Tiighram, 79
gti-sh-S

ehiflhawah, 128
(h-f-r

g-hafilr, 19, no

magbiirab, 114.

eh-f-l

g-hiAlun, 13S, 139
Hhrfah, 13 S, 139, 1+0
gb-n-y

;'■!■ 1:1 1, 151

jaraflhttj, 1 jo, 15a, ij[

istighrvT, 73

Ijhaivtii, 137
gliawiya, >37
fhayy, 1<>S
Hi

ffljfli:ifl h jf'.|

fajir, 113, 1 56, 162, 16 j, 164
■1-gittt khulfe kulL burr wa-Fijir min
a]-mu 1 min.In ja'tzah, 163

fair. Lift, lil
fuijir, jrj, 1.63, i6.f
fujii, 156, 1G2, itfj, 164
yaljura, it}

>afjurti airaimn-hvi, 163
f-b-si

:"niii::i:.,k. 3?, 17 j, 312, 333, 134, 242,

fohiaha, 233

fabsha 1 , try, ra, i.U

(awAhiflhj 238
f-t-h

feriha, 147
li tatrab., l 47
t*frarj, 147
lafraMuia, 145

fcriir, $$
f-r-q

yafraqflna : faraq, S6

fart, 230

ilftari, 40, 229, 24s

is'tuS', 59, 100, icn, 169, 170, 22B,

ttiufiartn, 1 10, tjR

■ftixTV al-ksdhib, r+5, 245, 248

iftira 3 *a]j Altih al-kidhib. 131

muftari, 100, lor
muftarin, too
muffcirQii, 101

afaada, 211, 3-13

ftiiti, 147, 17s, 2J J, 2JI. 249

mu I Mil. 1S2, 212
mufnidjn, 211, 213
TrnifsiJiin, *f2
tiulsida, 2 it

yufeidvina, 17 J, 411

fasaqa, iSt

alladhltva faaaqij, 162

ftsiq, 39. 4', '5*>, IS?, 15*, 159, ifit.
I-H, j88, 3j£, ajjS, 243

fj^iqin, 236

faaiqun, 41, 158, 164, 161, 162

fbq, 136, 137, i $3, 1 Jt/, 16&, 161,
162, 172, r^, i74, 240

fusfiq, in, 156, 161, 1S8

t»f*n;|fin:s, 1 1 1'.
f-d-l

t3dl r 41 B, 219
f^q-h

fujh, *a

jl.ll.4S1 al-akbai, 163, 164
Hi-;

qatr, 83,

qatilr, fcj

yaqturQ, 83
q-a-t

Wjsaf, 110

aqaifO., m

373

/itiejc o/Arabk Words

q-a-^-tmiftt

r--.i:-.|--i i:jj _">'., 211

qteif, J 13., ■*> t

qfeisurt, 113, 114, 101, 153

qi9f r 209, 219,31]

tnqsitfi, iCt>, 411

qaaat quiubuhum. 147, 136
qisiy'h, 127

aqflll, 118
(j-w-m

qs'imab., 305
qAyyim, 192

qayyinnah, 192

kubi'ir, 4tB, i±^, 141

iacaikbara, 19. 4c, 72, 120, 14.1, 146,

146, 149
istalbarta, 14*, 144-
Lsiakharciun, 247
Lstakbanl, 142, 145, 144, 148, 342,

ist0ttj5.f, J 1 3, 149, 246, 242, 247

miiscakbir, 1 13

muctalitiirOn. I Hi

muufabbir, 113, 142, 143, 132,

176
tJikjililjani, 1+5, I4&
talcabbarQ, 146
ttiktiljbur, 14J
y'li^LLLkL^LrLLcta, 11 J, 144
yauikabbarijnn, 14s

kadhabtu its

kadhdih, 126, 133, 175, 176, 193
kadbdhatrii, iso. 2-47
kadhib, 40, 89, 91, 94, 99, ioo, 101,
«S

kiiiltiib, 175

kadbibfl]), 1S1

mufcfidhidhib, 113, 174

mukadhdhibln s 103, in, 136, 174

imJsinlhtJriibun, 112

lakdhTb, od, too, tot, 103, 112, its,

120, 136, T49, iij, 160, 174, 213,

230, 242, 247

tvikadhdhibftns, 111

k- j - Til

jkfiill, S3, 6j
karam, 4B, 7B

ksrim, ii, S3, S4, 7», **6

nuikriJi, 21
t-f-r

4iifu«, 176

Likfuru, z<x>

bfun, jt, j 24, ><»J, l3S, iflo

kaf&nh, 164

kafDTtum, 130, 204

htfaru, toft, n2, i23, t 21 , 13°! 'JS.
T 3™, tS4j t?*, 'Go, l 7'> t^'i 1S8,
212, 225, 242,, 345, 347

alladhlna knfarO. t^o

k»lT5r, nj, I2J, j 64

kaffara, 228

kaftir, za-S

kafir. 14, H, 16, 34.3$. j&, 3% -id, 41.
+7. 49 1 6& i 7*- 77- 7*- **. 85, 8«,
ga, ^4, id*, HJ, 120, 12 J, J*6, 1*7,
j 28, 131, ij2, 157, 138, 139, i6j,
1&4, iftij, 174, 176, 1711, 187, [SB,

396,235, 2J*,24S a S+5

Idrir-rnufihiik, 132

laifirih. 41, 106, 143, 196

kirin"i!fl, iBS

bafii4n, 41, 126, 142, 171, 209

kafur, fd, iz3, 1x3

ktill khactar kaftlr, 9A

ku[[ kliaiwwaii kaftlr, 96

h.^i: j- , 114, . j ! •. 179

kufilTj 13;

J™fr, y, ii, 2s, 36, 66. 73, 95, ioi h
107, na, [14, us, 119, 120, I4T,
124, 144, 12$, 1x6, 123, 130, 1JI,
i3» f i3J. I3S, 13:6. '39r i+s, 145,
1+3, 1+9, tS*. 153, 1*4, ij6, 157,
i£*h 155, 1*', 1^4, l6v, 170, 171.
174, 17*, I79j 180, 181, 182, 164,
187, 18B, 194, 195, 19*, 201, it 2,
iif) h 22 j, 227, 3z8 h 229, 2jj, 238,

M9, *+i, *+S. *+6, 2+7. 3+9, ajz
kuff al-jiifiq, 1R0
mutamamd f 1 al-tufr, 39
ki.Hi;".:, 124

373

Ethico-Reiigivui Concepts tit the Qufan

t.lkCuril. iOD-

takfurQiui, 114, 125, 168
yukfur, 195
;. . I. 11111 :, 134

ybMurns a]"'*shir, 1*4

yukjUims sj-ihsif, 114
yikfiims bi-AJIih, 134
yakfuru, 122, 158
ynjtfui-uiia, i~+
k-rni

JtnnijJ, n*_T, 1*4

k-fi-n

akiiuiah, 128
m-j-d

m— h-n

mihrjah, 227
m-r-lj.

tRmTsJiiJn*, 145
m-r-d

marad, 1S3
m-f-r

mifai ataaw 1 , 231

umtirHt, 231
m-t|-t

raaqt, 234
m -n -'

manna 1 , 1 1 5
m-y-r

ywmsSri«ia, 137
m-w-]

am wiil, 21 8

ml], 217, 2ifi
m-y-l

II! Ill, 211

1b tsinulu kull aj-mayl, 211

fi-j-S

!■. "i: i, 24I

n-d-b

maudflb, 20
n-*2>-li

rJ'sib. 57
:i-'-m

n! 1 1 nil, 1 24
n-f-q

munSfrq, v*. *>Ip 95, 114, 17ft
(Si, 182., 1K3, 216

munifiqltj 181

ito.

:ii,i;,«:!i::i!, 114, 1', 'i

munP Safin, 181, ifij, 24K

iiafaqu, i So

uiflq, 95, 149, 158, [59, ]&o, 178,
170. iS* h «8i, 181, 183,248
n-q-m

•J!: - , inl .:.i:ii, 69
n-k-r

munksr. 205, zia, 113, 214,215, 216,
J17-S34

j 1 1. 1-,!', 2 16
n-k-f

ktankftfa, 146

irtankafa, 143
n-w-b

aniba, 1 11

munib, 111
iVd-i

ahdf, iv j

Jiaifa, 137

hadayta, 138

tiudi*, T34, *4>, iyj, 194

ibtsitt, 134, 19J

ihtids*, 13 3 , 137, 193

muht^Jr, i*}, 138, 162

mufrtfl^rn, 134, 139, (94

viihdi, 138,

vbMI, 141, i<>4, ihJj

huzu 1 , 114

ituJthfldha huziflan, ija, ijj
istahm'a, 152, 153

mii&tBhzj*, 1 1 4
muatih2i 7 fn, 1 S3
usiuhii'a, 15.1
yastahzi'fina, too, i$j

h-a-w

bazlmari, 23 1
h n !

filnimb, 115
li— w— i

ahwa', !}(), 140, 141
aM al-ahwa'j 1 40
hawi, i],i> r 140, 141, 142
h-y-l

■'ir, i:!l, Jf>

374

w-j b

wiLjib, 36
w-j-1

lujila, 71

t&whid, 13s
w-'Hl

wa*id, 201

w^-f-i
wnfa% 87, 88, 91

«!!', Oi
w-q-S
»tt]a, J3, 65

ittULlS, I^O, ijl, IW, IOO

ittaqaw, 145, 19$, ig6

ittaqi, 60

Index of Arabia Words

muttiiijij Sfi, 1 of), 1 37, :'/:, 224,

itmiuqin, 103, 106, 137, 150, 196,

4*4, aji

muttaqQn, 37, io£, 20S

t«I|i, $4, 152, 209

faqwa, 1:8,3% 53,54,70,71,103,106,

««i M* 'So, i*3. i«h '9*. 'W-

105. soo h *c8, a. jo, s.24
taitaqiiia, 20&
yatlaqi, 11)7, 224
ir-k-1

tawaHiUl, 70, 7>

V' a '

maysir, 161, 240, 245

375

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

A:irii:i, (44, 1 jit

'AbbStl period, 63

Abel, l'ju

c Abid, 51

c Abitl b. al-Abras, *7, 49b 37, 7a

abomination, ]6l, 173, 234

Abraham, 60, ?o, 9*, 03, ¥4, >lb, 142,

1G2, 168, jSy, 190, 192, 193, 225
absolute r obedience, 1 87 ; trvM, 1 V
AM Bakr, 91, 92,94
AM, Hanlfah, 163
Abu Jahl, 58
Abu Qaj--s, 60
Abu Sa'd, 61
Abu Talib, *3
Aba TimrnSm, J7, 140, 214, 216,

Abyaainia, 60

"Ad, 35, 191

Adam, 64, 137, 161, 167

age of ignorance, id, if*. iV* a^jo

Jihiliyah
■Alt, 30, 61
'All b, AbT Tabb, 75

276

Allah, 30. Ji. 33, 34, 54, 63. 67, 69, 86,
88, 97, 90, 251 ; his will, 7a

A]]*t, 133

abnightineS of God, 1*4

almsgiving, 37, 78, 75, 109, i$i, 159,
192, sot, 206, 268, 200, 2 r6, 210, lift

AmSli (Sharif al-Murtedi), 6c, 20S

*Ainr b, 'Ubaiyd, 60

«ic=('Qra, 46, 47, 63

Andrae, Tar, $4.

angels, 127, 133, 144, id

ArisSr, 39, 6(

'Antarah, 140, 147, 23.6

anthropology, cultural, 4

,4newff {ff-Timij; («i-^trtfr of-TVfutf
(ai-Baydtarf), 38.

apostasy, 16S

apostle, 33, 66, 93, 103, 114, 120, Ut,
126, lifl, 130, 135, 136, 143, 146,
148, 145, r5j, 154, 13&, 1 J9, 160,
162, 165, ro 7, '69, '7°, '79, 'Si,
1&2, 187, 188, 197, 207, 209, a 1 6,

»3', 2+9
Apostle of God, 53, S-U, 9i, i 16

Apostle, :-.ilih, 142

Apoatolic Tradition, 87

Arabia, ancient 55, 130

Arabic, 140

An Afafrif-Engtith I^tieom (Line), 96

Ariha, 97, 106; cAty-dwcllera, 107;

noinadEc, 107 ; pagan, 31, 33, 35, 45,

40, 61, 62, 76, 77, &£ uiso pne-

IjuJnmit
Arbeiry, A. J., 35
aTfU, 5
Aristotle, 5

Arnold, Aug. (ed.), 30, 31
arrogance, 142, I45* 146, t48, CJX, 1 52;

of Eieathertdom, 35 ; of ksfiis, 132
il-A'sha, 4B, 52
al-Ash'arf, 140
"Asrnji b. Marwan, 58
associates of God, i io
association, 139, 132, 136, [71

alanoi-ia, 31, 69

Austin, G« A., is

= Awf, 38

A«s and Khi2raj, 29, f»o

Asar, 13&

bad, 19, 2.0, 38, iOJ, 175, iij, Z49, sgxj

Conduct, 103, I&4
Badr, 91 ; battle of, 38
Band c Amr Tribe, ±13
Banu Htufrurci, 59
BanQ JudhEmab, 30
flamj Salamati, So

al-Hiiydntwi, J3, 3,8, 34, 70, Ho, oft, r*j,
'33. '45. '4*, 148, r+9. ij?, 169,

'73, 213, 2'3l 2TO, 227j 223, 243, 246

il-Buyyidi, Kamal a|-Din Ahmad, ay
Bedouin, 107, 10K, tSj, 169, 231;

P*gKt, 4?
belief, 33, 71, 104, 105, 107, 119, 120,

114, 136, 133, 137. 142, 154= i*'.
171, i«&, 164, 1B5, 1B7, 188, 1S9,
191, 194, 1 9k 304, *iG, 243
believer, 04, 103, 100, 10S, 110, 114,
120, I2T, i6r, itizj 163, 179, [84,
18s, 186, 187. 188, 189, 19s, i*)7,
149, 20O, 208, 210, us, 919; de-
finition ttf true, i8j; Qut^img de-
fuutUm of , [,;>5

J3n£sr; 0/ Subjects

believers, m, 129, 133, 140, ijSj 159,
1 !'■■;, 105, if' 8. 109, 183,218,1.31,234,

239

benevolence, 203; of God, 201; social

side of pious, 70; spiritual aspect «F

pious, 70
Benjamin, 134
Bergaon, Henri, 10
betrayal, 9,5
Eiblc, 127
bipod: feuds, zy; kinship, 55, 58, 6i,

S6; Tcngeanoe, ^9
Book, 107; of God, 61
'Book of Song*', 45, 81
bounds at Cod, 167, 16S, 173
bounty, 210; of God, 21H
bravery, 27, 75, S3
brotherhood, $9; principle of, 61
Brawn, Roger, 12, 14
BruiHier, J*. S,, 12
al-Bukbiri, r±4, 190
a|-Bustanl, 30, 83, 231, 24"
caJf, 100, 171, 171
ealumny, 244
careksantss, 13SI
categiories r of acts, 20-21 ; legal, 249 ;

lingiimic, 20
Chapter of Joseph, 138, i6rl
chanty, 77, 326
chmtisement, U4. 135, '43, 188, 199,

200, 212
children: of Adam, 174; of Israel, 147,

17", '74
Chineac Confucianism, 3
chivaky, 76
Christiuiiity, 131
cleanness, ritual, 236, 237
Cohen, Morria R., 4
companions: of Cod, 130; of Hell, 107,

in, ill; of Paradise, 10-7, 108, i to;

of the Left, 69 1 of the flight, 69
concept, 9, to, li
coniectiire-, 132, 133
connotativB s^tem, 12
contentiousness, 134
contextual definition, 37
continence, sexual, 109
corruption, 146. 147, too, 173

277

Ethii^Religimts Concepts in the- Qur'im

courage, 27, 73, Si, SO*, *S*"i lit

Jah.ilryah, S6
covenant, S-6, 65, 90, yi, 93, 06, y7, i*y,

127, 16a; of Gad, 205; Semitic eon*

ception of, 68
eovetousfless, Bj
cowardice, 84
Greater, 1OS1 120, i+9, iJi
curse of (kid, 171
Datta, D_ M, 39

dj'jjrhtRrs: of God, 1 30 J of Allah, in.-
David, 1 64
Day of Judgmifnt, 53, 54, 64, 00, 103,

ic*j, 111, 1 1 j, ii«, 115, 121, 125, 133,

136, 1*8, 1 5 J, 163, «*4, ifa, i<>7, t69,

174, 181, 187, 22 r, 447; fear of, s+i

L .11 1 .i of, 1 10
Day of Reckoning, 142
Day of Resurrection, 82, 145, 154, 163,

164, 1 :,!':. 222, 227
day of Uhud, 6i
Definition (Robinson), 2+
deluge, 2Cj
demons, 1 1 z
dezaucaaa, 23 1
deviation, 16 3
devil, 08

Pirir b. al-KhnttJb, 84
disbelief, 2-i, 36, 03, 14a, 124, 123, 126,

1-33, 137, 1,14, i?', >&>, *4J
diabelicver, 41, 114, 126, 127, 140, 159,

179, i9&
dishonesty, 229
disloyalty, 160
disobedience., 227
divorce, 2.30, 240, 24B
£JfR*i (Lyall ed.), 47, 49, S7, 7*
Dits&t (Selijr8i>bn ed.), ijo
a'CMiN ( ! Abd al-fta^ut", ed.|, 140, 147,

230

doubt, 137, 176

Do*y, R., 36, T07

dualism, 10s

Durayd b. aL-Simmah, 55

Dutt, N. (ed), 9B

Egypt, Egypt™™, ioi, ifo, i6v, 174

E^p-iiari Governor, 04, 05, 134

endurance, 101

Z78

equity, 116; in conduct, 209

erring, 137

eBctutologioii: fear, 105 ; reward, 70

eSchattilriKy, to8

eternity, 4S, 50

ethical terms, semantic content of, 19,

2D
eihico-relijfLoLisi : concepts, 17; tenuis,

18
ethivs; tumparative, 4; divine, 17, 18,

19; human, 17, 1S, 10; Tsbmie, in,

23, {7, loo; Navaho, 12; Quranic,

iH5. 2S.I, 252; system of. social, jS,

tribal, 60
FtAi'fi (No.wc.ll- Smith), *
ethnolinguisticji, 7, 20
Evans, Donald, too
evil, 38, 10.4, 207, 213, stj, 3*6, 23.7,

zaB. 230, 2.32, 239, 247; ace, 233;

deed, 334, 227, 328, 143; doer, 24,

*5, 1[ 3> 164, lOG, 211, Z27; people,

23] ; things, 236
excommunication, 36

truth, 114,119, 161, 1S4, 1S5, 1^1,204,

2.1 g, 228, 243 ; way of, 1 50
foithfuln***, 87, 57, 109
F*Jthr al-Dln nl-Raid, 17?
false accusation, 244
falsehood, 97, 90, 106
fasting, iog
Fsiiroah, 341
fault, 38
favo«, 1*4
fear, 18, j+, 71, 106, 100, 137, 106, 107,

198, 199, 300 ; eschatolog-ical, T9j
Fear of God, iS, 37, 53;, 54, &>, 63, 70,

76, 103, 120, 127. 145, 150, 1 Si, 163,

iH. '95,»S.i24

Fallows : of die Fire, 123, 1 r# ; of the
llight, 107 j of the Left, 107, mi

nlthinc3£, 240

at'Fiqh al-AktwTt 163, [64

fire, 11*, 113, 114, >34, I3J, 137, US,
150, 164, 160, 167, 171, 176, 342, 246,

347

five categories of acts, m, 11
live legal categories, 24')
forbidden, I0J, 237; foodi, 24°, MS

foreordinition, doctrine of, 128
forgery, 100, iorj 131, 170; of a lie.,

rh!)

forgiv«ncaB v i-g, no, 17a, 243, 247
fornication, 53, 16 1, 186, 32B, 233
jj.sr.-ikiriir. i:-:
Gardens of Eden, lop, 111, 137, 15a,

■Gehenna, 103;, m, 113, 114, 113, rai,

13*, 1J9, '45. '5°j '53. 1^6, 336, 241,

242, 4+3, *4'7
Ciiii, 7
generoBity, 10, 7^, 76, 77, 78, So, 220,

2S*
GnassJn, 39
God ourf Man in the Koran (Izutiu), 1 1,

17, 2-il, 61), 131, jSg, 191, [02, 196
godfearing, 61, 106, 111, 137, 145, ijo,

131,153,1^6,1.24,135

Go* and Majtn^, 2 1 1 , ti 2

Golden Carf, no, 172, 22H, 229; of

Mosea' people, 171
GoKbuhes-, [graz, *S
Goliath, 102
EXMtd, 10, 145, 120, J +7, J 75, 3J3, 217,

2 1 8, 21^, 32£>, 34-g, iStjunridutt, cfij,

164^ -doers, 242; works-, 185, 204,

205, i»9, ztaj, 223
good and bad, 20, -232
Goodiuow, ], J,, 12
State, 1 i o, 1 1 1 , 1 20, t z r , r 13
gratitude, 124
Cnjmebaum, G- E. Von, 58
(Euidance, 33, 133, 134, 137, 138, 14J,

154, t«2, 104, 19s, 107, 324; diving

17B, r«2, 192, 193
guilty, 107
badich, 124
Hainan, 242
ttamSioh (Abu Tauunam), 37, [40, 214,

*tfi, 237
Hanstdte school, 227

happjrjEj?, 3S

ai-Hsirith h. llishfim, <fi

i^fiHn fll-BiarT, 34, 170
Hassan h, Thabitj 77
^atitii f£.% 27, 70

Index of Sulijectt

haughtiness, 22, jw, 40, 78, 103, 120,

i 4 i, ] 4 6, ] 4 B, 3ja
ilayst ai-'Arabfysh irrfn al-Sfi?r al-

Jdhiil (il-HQf 1), So
hedonism, so, 33, ajz
heedlessness, I?8, 139
Hell, 33, os, 86, g4, 102, 108, in, 112,

113, 113, 1 r6, 124, 137- ijfl, 1501 i»4p

1 87, 1-88, 2D I, 21.;. 21*; ft*. U4,
«I5, '43, 179

Heme, Paul fed.), 8

Hertsfter, 10E, ^33, 133, 13B, 171, lH6,

1 88, 202, Z24
hijrah, 2>>, i*ft

Hijtvjre (fV* Muml7naKi d'Etpagne

(Dozy), ;6, 107
Holy Mostjuc, 241
Holy War, 1 5B, 23 1
honor, 63, 64, 68, Si , tribal, 24
honesty, 92
Hud, lot

Hudaytayah eitpejiliftft, 2J|

al-Huf[, Ahmad Muhammad, So
buman conduct, rules of, 167
hiprTwnism; individunl, tj2; tribal, fii
htitnhlc, 20, 72.; Jtiindediiess, viruue of,

72; Bubmraaion, 100
hurnbkneaa, 20, 22 , 7*. 71 , 120
hypocrite, 20, 114, 138, 178, r79, 181,

182, ioo, 207, 216, 231, 247, 248

1 '•■■Ik. '-[■:. |t>I

Ibu T Ab(l Rabbili, 64
Ibn FSris b. Zakariyi", S»
Ibi) Hiahim, 20, 61, 75
Ibn labs*!, *S, »ft 30, JI, 32, J7, 58, S9,
60, 01, 6i r 63, 63, 73, So, 8j, flo, 01,

•4^j iJ7p 241
Tbn H(mm Moktunl, 06
idnlatcra, 126, 130, 146, 161, 162, t68,

I'M, 219, 2JI
idolatry, 100, 110, iji» 143, 171, 170,

[68

idofs, 97, -g9, 100, 122, 130, 136, 137,

13-9, 168, 17*, in.*, 195, 239,240
iinOmhrt, 16, jg, 29, 32, ±32
immortality, 48, 30, 02, in
Impostor, 126
Imiu" al-Qjys, 87

270

Ethico-JteHgious Concepts in the Qur'an

infidel* 34, £5, > oS

iiiStaiiitide, 26, 41, 1*0, I2i, 122, 134,

200

inheritance. 167

injustice, 164, 165

insolence, 12?, 1*6

■%* oJ-Fowfff (Ttm "Abd RittiihK «4

Isaac, 225

Iihdrdl al-Mardm tnin c lbarat itl-Imam
(aURayyadi), 127

Ishmac], 142

IsBm, io, 17, », 23, *8, 20., 30, 31, 34,
35, 45, 47, 49. SO, 5*> 54, S&, jS, 59,
60, 61 , 6j, 64, 65, 68, 65, 73. 7*. r?,
7«> 8o> 85, 87. SB, 94, 0.3, 97, 00, ion.
lOS, [04, "°5, T °&, "*7, 10S, no, 125,
131, '43> i57t i^3> iSi, 1*2, 167- i8g,
190,200, 203. so*, 11 j, aj>, 238, IJi 1
definition of , 70, '89; dutic* of, ioq

Aff ftdaffl (Ritter), 54, 179

ijidffl, iYwyj fn ffci Nature and Growth
0/ a Culture! Tradition (Grunebautiii),

Islamic; empire, history of, 86; ethical
culture, 17; ethics, 16, 43, 67, 20*1
juria-ptudenoe, 3, i8, 173; mono-
theism, 251; moral code, 17; morals,
179 ; theology, 10*. ; virtue?, 7*, 78, 83,
92, 109

Israel, 34, Sfl, T27, r3 «, 177, 230.

Israelites, 3*, 147, 305, aiz, ai7

Initiu, ToshihiltO, u, T7, *S, 6fl, "3*,
1 St), igx, 192, icj6

Jacob, 134, 138

Jahilf, 67, 75, 77, 185; custom, 246;
life, .si; literature, 48; wiiii™, 84,
8e ; women, 8a

JihiLiyah, 16, 18, 11. zy, 30, 46s 48, 50,
S', 5 J, 5+. J*j 5«, *4, *>5, *7, *8, 7»,
74, 75, 7S, 80, 81, 87, 9+, 97., 1 Oi,
102, 106, nj, 140, 143, 1 si, 157,
ifa, 171, 18*, 208, =13, 21+, 217;
225; snd Islam, So; courage in, 86,
idolatrous worship in, 100; ]ife in,
i*i ; poetry in, igfi; sacred CLisioms
in, ior.; itociai structure of", 58; tribal
spirit in, 02

Japanese Shintoism, j

280

Mi
lift;

Jeans, go, 03, 131. i>*, 155, i? t > 1891

206, 230, 238
Jen?, 141, 149, 161, 109,230

Jinn, 138, 161

John the Baptist, 106
John, son of Zachatiah, 1 52
Joseph, 32, 38. i>*. f& 94, 95. 134. 138,
176, 232, 233, 243, 247

Jo?p 3*
al-Juhba.1, 227

jurisprudence, iH, 23

juriats, 203

justice, 91, 210, 211; in conduct, 200;
of God, 234

Ks=h h. MtUt, 84

Idfin, 3 j, 47, 56, 66, 77, 82, g;, 86, 132,
^ilt t-3% i39> 14=, iJ4 f i*a, 169, i«7,
195, 107, a 13. ai*, 317, 313, 216,
232, =33. 5JS, 241, **=. *4<i.
definition of, 12a; heart of, 127,
state of mindof, 117

Khadif, 2t6

Khalid ibn al-\YaLld, 30, K5

RS-Kh^fim nl-Tamlmi, 57

Khawarij, 36, 204

Khazraj, 58

tilling, 138

kindness, 65, 114, ij*, soS, zzfc-, 334

tinshir, 00, 62 ; by blood, $8

al-Kirmanl, 124

Kifah al-Aghdnt, 4$

Kf'id* al-I&axuh (al-Aih'atp'j. 14a

Kitab- ol-Imdm (al-ftulthsri), 124

linowlrdAa, *8, 132, t33. «3», r+i, 147,

Konih, :^C)> 14 1 ;, 343

tufr-nsiturc, 122, 1^9
Labitl ti- Rabr«h, Ji, 52, 0,3
Ladd, John, 12
Lane, E, W,j 96
LunguzKe and Categories' (Rnrmi), n,

7-iuijrjfijr,., Thought, ami Cultun (Hcnle,

tAi, 8
language, Thought and Reality (Whor f)

8, 11
IjstDay, 37, 59, 60, 09, 86, reus, 144,

149, '51, iBi, »8, il6

Index of Subjects

Lest Hour, 190

Lust Judipment, n*, 165,186, 195

Law; divine, 2131. of Islam, 3, 18, 33,

>>5B, 171, 173; l*fjaJ i-egulatkina, 244;

unwritten code, 63
l*™ful, tor, 173, *36, ajS, *39
Levy, Reuben, Z13

lie, ^7, <)u, aat, 17s, St45,i48
^1 Literary History of the Atais (Nichol-
aon), 27, 28, 55, 68, 87

hEEratijre: coiiIjempnrtTy e=dlEead, 19^

Jihjli, 4SI; pre-Jstnniic, 26; poat-

Our'anic, 1 62
ocks, 128
TTtc Ij&ie af Stlf^iwoivetHotl [Evana),

19s
Lwpnun the Wise, 171
Ufr, 32, 173,234,236
loyalty, 36, 87, 169
P*^^ jo, ^8, Us, 144, !Go
Majesty of God, 124
Msnit, 133
Mannwaau, J, , 36
marriage, 248
mBrtyrdoni, ioZ, 1O3
Mmrjf, 130
materia prima, ia
si-M-aturidl, 163
memiins of worda , 7
Mecca, 3B, 3^, 60; -62, 133, 182; n>et-

chants of, 74, 8n, £1
Medina, 39, 58, So, 61, 157, 182, 183;

period of, 253
membra &sjeela, 106
mercy, 17, 19; of God, 219
Messenger, 31
Messiah, o.z, t?l
metalanguage, 21, 22, 23, 252; «thical,

20
miracles, 127
ini*uelieYer, 24, z5
misfortune, 227

mockery, 100, 103, 114, 153, 154
Mtfutnttud, seiii Leben tnsd win Glaubt

^Andne}, j 4
moiifc, 157
monotheia.iri, 35, 37, 47, 54. (9, 74, 87,

94, ioi, 192, 203; Tsiainic, 2; 1

mora] : code, 6, 12, 16, 17, 20; discourse,
17] ideala, pic-lsiamic, 7+1 idess,
prc-Iilstnic 104; phenomena, 20;
philosophy, 13, 21; properties, 103,
i*6, 156; lefonn, 4S

morala: fundamental issues of, 19;
IslflmJc, !?!>

Mosti, 41, 90, loo, ioi, io2, 103, no,
i4=, H3s i+4> i4*p H7i t54. 15S, 160,

171 > 174, 175. i*9. 194, lOS, 2»2, 21],
2l6, 228,242

Moses' folk, 171

Muiaddri, 48, 63

MtfttUaqah, 5C-, 51, $3, 7*, 77, So, 84> *7

.i;';: ; j.jV/ufOal f Mul'a^ljal), 48, 63

.Muhatir b. Abi : Amr, 62

Muhiijiriji, fix

■Muhammad, 28, 29, 33, 35, 46, 50, ja,
56, s 8, 61, 62, 65. *6. 67, 77. 80, 81,
82, -85, Oi, 92, 98, 99, 1Q Jt lfl 4i IO °.
10S, 1 is-, 123, 129, 136, 139, 141, 148,
140, 153- '54. 1ST. 158, 1S9. 160, 170,
180, iSi, 1 Bo., 19.5., 197, 198, 214, 226,

239
MtJummad at Mean (Watt), 59, 62, So,

i+()
.'1 hihi.m mn si at Medina ( Wt: 1 }, 239
\tiihammedamKhs Stadien (Gold2ihet),

28
AfftftB cA-Mnkil (4-Bu4(5ni}, 30. 83,

231,241
Mifjam Maqdyis al-Lughah (lbn Paris),

tkL-Mukh-bbad, 48

mundier, 229

^lurji^Ji, 185, 204

Musali' al-'Abst, 213

The .Wmlira Creed (Wewsifttty, f63

Muslims, 123, 124, 146, rjS, 139, 168,
[fit>; community erf, 3 63 ; definition of,
70, 189; ethical life of, 21 ; ideal type
of, 109

Mu'tah, battle, of, 85

Mu c [azilah, 60, 227

Mu'razilites, 14c

MirtazLliirtt, rod

Names of God., 17

Nasi, 246

4*1

Eitiico-Reli'gitnis Concepts in the Qitfdn

in-native (valuation, jg

hiicholson, R. A,, 27, 28, 55, 68, 8.7

itifuq-natiire, 1.39, 1 (jo

niggardliness, 78, So, 81, 8a, £3

Noah, J4. oc, 'JlBj I0Z ' ■&*' *3*! people
of, 154

norhingneaa, 0$

NowoU-Smith, P. H., 6

Oath-monger, 11$

obedience, 187, 316

cbjeci-iyoi da, 30

Odc of TflTflfiJi , .ie, 51

Old Testament, SB, 89

omnipotence of Gad, q8

Oneness, of God, 130, 13. r

onert'hafidedrtc&s, 151

Original Word Game, 14

Orphans, 109

OiHrajt*, 147

outsider, 115

pagan: conception of exiEtencr:, 47;
idolatrous practices, 33, 34; moral
ideas, 46; iruoral virtues, fia; religion,
56 ; tribal lire, j6, iY±- ii/ic J Jriillyah,
pre-Islamio jige

Paradise, Go, HI, Jlf), iji, 137, 15a,

!Fl4, J7I, IO7, I56, 2Q2, 204, 206,

20-7, 225, 2X9, 2331 rewRrd of, 108,

IO9, I II

pardon, 13+

patience, 7j, 10 1, 103. io,|, 109, 137,

124, »$»; hi the way of God, 101
penitence, no
people; of ahwa', 14.0; of Lot, 175; of

the Scripture, 16 1 , 162
perfidy, 05, OJS

pessimism, in pre- 1 slami-c poetry, 419
Phnraoh, 41, 101, 102, t4j, L44, 147,

ir>o, 175, 104, 195, ioB. *ia, 213,

133, 2+1,240'
piety, iC, 37, 06, 15a, 207> ac4t, 33s;

definition of, 4*7 i filial. US', of

parents, 209
pilgrimage, 64, roftj, 173, 338, 248

faith, 1 09
pious: dped, 23ft; fear, iB; fear of God,

37, fj; work, 31 S
pluralistic theory, 19

282

poetry, aja; in Jill: : I i;. ul ■ . iqA; in in
Islamic age, 28, 48, 49, gr, S4

pol*daemotn"sin, primitive $(*
polytheism, 30, £0, 04, 115, I2i, 130,
( Jii 136, 141, 168, 171, 186, ii)i , 341,

prayer, 104, 109, 163, 205, 209, -2ro;

of truth, 1 3 1
A Preface to Lvgic {Cohen), 4
pre-Is]amiOfl«e: Arabia, 55, 13O; Antb*,

S2, 3i> ASt S3i =3-*- 237; literature, 26 j.

moral ideals, 74; moral idem, 104,

pafiatu-iro, iji ; poeu-y, 2S, 48, 49, si*

84; society, 641 values, 152
pfeaumptuouinesA, 140, 146, rs 1
pride, 113
primary level, 21, 21; language, 244;.

terms, 20; value-words, 21
private property, 78
Propter, *8, 39, 35, 47, $2, 58, 59, 60,

61, d+, 7*, <>J, OJ, ^8, 102, 1 14, "*4,

14s, r4$, XJSj J5+, IJ3. i^ij 167,

170, 174, 182, 180, 107, 108, 206,

314, 215, ai 9, 349
the prophet Hud, 3;
Frophethood, 162
Providence, 124
Psalms, 2ofi
puiiialinient, too, 243
Qadaiites, 140
Qadariyab, 227
QarQn, 146

Qureysh, 5*. 63, fi*, 146
a1-JU?J, Fathr al-Dln, 179
reality. 07, cjft, lot; nrmdinsuistie,

20
reason, I«J, ltd, 154
rebellion, 1R8
reckoning, 132
Red Sea, 147
reliance, 74

relijpu-political society, 62
reLigion; Islamic concern of, 120;.

primitive nomadic, SB; concept of

pure, 193.
remembrance, 10+
reminder, 13S
repentance, lie, lit, 126

Index of Subjects

resurrection, 47, <*8. 125, 154, 163;
doctrine of, ise, 126

revelation, 20, 07, 99, too, 107, 1 ij, 125,
116, ii«, 131, 13s, ijti, 13S, '3^, "4i =
143, 154, ffii, ilia, 169, 170, 103, 104,
209,219,

Revelation , Book nf , 1 17

reward. 115: eachatological, 79

"fint, "OS. i't

Righteous Mao, deriniisiiion uf, 205

righteJiLijnjes*, 37, 204, 208

Hitter, HeJnaul, J4, 17^

ritual, 109

Robinson, Richard, 2,t

rudeneaa, 114

ruat, 12B

Sahhath, 172, 17}

Sacred Book, 48

$nhih ial-Bukharl}, 124, too

blalfiiiiaii b. Hishsm, 8ji

Si.Uh, Propliet, 141, T75

salvition, us

SarnaWal t>, "AdiyJl, 87

«anciificatiun, 2jt>

Siapir, Edward, 7, ij

Satan, *9. 7^< 78, 9Ji 144h I5°t 170, i3i>
109,224, S3 3,234, ijr>,2+0

sMptJciBm, religious, 170

worn, 143

Scripture, 119, 127, 135, rjS, 142, T34,
162, ifi4;oeopleof, 124, ia6

secondary Eevel, 22; Unjriuirfe, 2+^;
terms, 20

Selected Writing* fSapJr), rj

self-reliance, 73

aelf-aurrendef, 2a

mMUiric; analysis, iB; cuntent «f
ethical terms, i{|; field, 40; trans-
formations, 16

sentenee, 12, 13

Septem Moattttkai (Arnold, «d-), .iQ,
SS, 7&, 77, So

The Severs Qdt:& (ArberryJ, 263

Shark Soifify al-BuktwTi (a!-Kirmani),
i i4

Eiharif al-Murtada, 60, 20S

filiiK ibn Qays, 28

eJAid^ a fjf f af-^Mur, 163, 64

Hhi/ubiyub, 63, 64.

sickness, 182

sipis, 122, iij, 134, US, 146, 12S, us,
142, J«, 1+4, I45j ijo, 153, '54, iJi*
158, 160, log, 169, IT*, I?**; rt '
divine benevolence, not ;of fjod, 124,
1 19, 130, 198, zoi, 242

sin, 21 , 24, 32, 38, 96, 107, 207, 22T, 227,
240, 242, 343, 246^24*; great, 349 j
small, 243

sincerity, 37

Sirah, 75

Sirat si-Nnbi {Ibn Inh&tj-Ibn Hiaham^
28, 39, 30, 31, 52, 37, 38, 60, f>i, 63,
*3i 65. 75 f So f Sjp Sttj t+6, 1 ^7

slander, 161

Tht Social Sttwtnrt of Itlam (Levy},
213

aoeio-poLitical unity, 58

Sodom, 33, tOi, ill, 2jO, 231, 234, 13^

sodomy, Ifp 1, 173, 1 7 J, 120, 233

£oinmon, zco, 217

sorcery, iDi

sLilrnicrtt, [a

steadfastness, ioi

stinginess, 20, ijt, 226

arraying, r 3 3:, 134, 135, 137, 193

Tht Structure tif a Moral Code (Ladd^,

12
A Siwfy of Tf'itoteril (Btunner, Good-

now, and Auitin), 12
autuniasion, 189

surrender, ifiy, '91, ^95

Sawi', 246

swerving iiLi: I ii i:.'.i. i-M i, 138

sword of Allah, jo, %$

Ta'alit.iaLah Shatran, 140, 237

tubtc, -8, 9

taboo, 101, 237, 23:8, 239, 240, 3^j;

lRnKuaj(e> 173; tfiinltrrra:, *3&, 237
7'j/i-ri' (al-UaydawI), 70, 80
Tajtb al-Ksbir (Fakhi al-Din al-

Raii), 179
Taj a!-' Ann (al-Kabidi), 30
TarHfah, 50, $1-, ,si, 77, 90
Thiimud, 142, 140
tliLir.ltfulness, no, isi, 124, 13 j, 120,

l i a i '9$, 2 oo, 202

2S3

Etkica-Religitnis Concepts in the Qur'dn

tha.TLk.ltsi*, 200

thcoocntnc, iS

theology, 140; Islamic, 128, 16a

theory; of inHcmeliit]nTi& 1 i 9 , rtf tAtswiiUfi;

7, 20; pluraLatie, 19
tradition, 08 ; tribal, 45
La Traduction du iaim CM WtiMd"), 3**
traitor. yfr
TjBnggJwasioti, 3.8, 115,, 17a, 173, 174,

238, 243.1- s 4$\ the bound, 168, 174;

of ih* bound, of Cod, 167, 16B, 173
treachery, 54, 95, 96, 160
Tree: in Ihe Garden., Biblical LTOJge of,

idll uf Eternity, 1371 uf ZaqtjfaiEi,

I3&, *4S

tribal: ethics,, 60; fcuda, 60, 61; gtory,
63; honor, ii)^ humanism, 6s;
mrtrtlity, 213; aolid&rity, yr,, 59,. 76,
87; spirit, 5^, 6a; tradition, 45;
virtue*., 33

tribalism, 46, js, 56, 57, j8, 62, 63;
conservative, 61

Trinity, Christian dretriiw of, ijr

trustwor thine**, 75, 92

truth, 89, 90, 95, 07, 98, 99, 100, r&6,
109, 115, 125", 12G, 127, 13.1, 133, 137,
14C, 141 , 142. 140, 154, ifo, 170

turntnfl, no

tyranny, 164

Uhud, battle of, 91, 1B0

c UmBr, 241

Lm-llditf, 26, 72 , J 07

unbeliever, iOO, iO^

unchastity, 230

unctenttruMS, 340

unfair, 122

LEnfiEtrhfulTK^H, ufv

ungodliness, 174

ung.natcfuLnc33., ai, 22, zf>, 78, 121,

unidty of Gad, theory of, rj4

unrenlitr, 97

usury, 167

( Urwah b. Ward al- c Abflip ^6

uruitfl.riflDism H pragmatic, 9, ao

value-words, 31, az, a 3

vwiity, 97, 24$

venfftfajiM, 69

veraciouane&B, 92, 93-, 9^

violence, 147; God's, £47

Virgin Mary, p ih a^

virtue 5, 14; Tslnrnic, ft, yi, 104;

nomadic, 75 ; tribal, 33
vocabulary, ro. El, ia h r,$
KrJi« Wfftbttd arr dtvteehzn Spraek*

(Weiijperfjer), 7
Wadd, 440
warmer, j 2;6, 135,. 1E4
Waail b. 'A^ 60

Watt, Montgomery, 50, 62, So, 149* ajo
Way of God, 17 r, 17*
wealth, 151, S17, 218; a* ideal of Life,

Si
weed, 7

WeisfcSrW, L«, 7
Weltanschauung., 250
Weeisinck, A, J,, 163
Whorf, Benjamin, S, 1 1
will; of Allah, 09 ; of God, 45, 16c, 167,

iyc, iH, 1J7, tlS
win*, 52,240, 245-;-drinkine,5i,2 37
wisdom,. 135
Tv-izard, 126, 164
word-lWriB defmitton, 15
word-wotd definition, 34, 25
worship, r09 h si 5, 239; in Jfthillyah,

100
wtatigliTia;, (46
wrath. Hi] of God, 165:
wrong, 105, 147, 164, 165, 169; -doer,

25, 30, 33" + i p If 3i 137, 139. i4i*

164, 168, 169, 1 oft, 240; -doings 136,

L47f ioo, 339
wrongful, 122
Yaghuth, 246
Yahweh, 88
Ya c -u<3, 2461
al-Zubldl, 30

ZaojqQm, tree of, na, 113
Zayd, 107, r9S
Zflynab, 197
ZLibayr, So, S4, B7
Zuhayr b. Abl Surma, 76, So, 84, 87

284

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